Serbia fly to first gold medal in history with unbelievable comeback

Belgrade, Serbia, October 2, 2011. With an incredible comeback in the fourth set, host Serbia claimed gold at the 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women. Two weeks after Serbia’s men team won gold at EuroVolley 2011 in Vienna, the Serbian ladies offered their home crowd Europe’s crown for the best national team. In a exciting five-setter in front of 9,000 thrilled fans, Serbia overpowered Germany 3-2 (16-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 15-9). 

Best scorers of the match were Margareta Anna Kozuch and Maren Brinker with twenty points each, while Brizitka Molnar booked 17 kills for Serbia. 

The more than 9,000 noisy fans in SC “Pionir” sports hall in Belgrade didn’t impress the German ladies at the start of the gold medal match. The squad of head coach Giovanni Guidetti jumped out for an 8-5 lead at the first technical timeout thanks to a Margareta Kozuch hammer down the line. The Germans unfolded a powerful game right from the beginning of the deciding match at the 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women. On the other side, the hosts couldn’t find a way to overcome the German block-defense system and struggled in passing. Serbian head coach Zoran Terzic replaced starting setter Maja Ognjenovic with Ana Antonijevic, but it didn’t improve Serbia’s playing level. Jovana Brakocevic sent the ball out of bounds at 16-24 to offer Germany a first set ball. Kozuch didn’t hesitate to close the first set out one moment later with a burning winner from back row. Kozuch was the outstanding player in the first set with nine points.   

It seemed as Terzic had found the right words in the 3-minute break with his players being in a completely new mood in the beginning of the second set. As a consequence, Guidetti called his players off court at 2-6. It helped with the unbeaten Germans coming closer at 5-7. However, the hosts were the better team in the second set. Natasha Krsmanovic pushed her team forward with a remarkable one-leg spike on the right side. Serbia were still three points up at the second technical timeout. The home team kept the pace, serving and attacking much more powerful as in the first set. Brakocevic brought up set point at 24-19, and a German net touch leveled the match 1-1 after two spectacular sets. The German service reception dropped from 69% to 36%, while Serbia improved their blocks from one to four kills in the second set. 

However, the German ladies regained momentum at the start of the third set. Christiane Fürst served for a 9-4 lead. On the other side, Serbia couldn’t live up to their success in the second set at this stage of the contest. Nevertheless, the Serbs were far away from giving up. Brakocevic came up with an astonishing series of serves to level the score at 9-9. It was a cat-and-mouse game now with both teams playing at their best. Never-ending rallies took turns with breath-taking combinations at the net. Fürst led Germany to a 16-15 lead at the second technical break. Brizitka Molnar sent the Mikasa some centimeters out of bounds at 19-21, and Jelena Nikolic committed another spiking mistake to open the gap to three points at 22-19. This was enough for Germany to end the third set in their favor, 25-19. 

Things didn’t change in the beginning of the fourth set. At 0-6, Terzic had already used his two timeouts. Germany led 8-3 at the first technical break, before Serbia came closer at 6-10. Sanja Malagurski came in for Brakocevic on Serbia’s side. It seemed to help as the hosts reduced the gap to one point at 10-11. At the second technical timeout, Germany was still up by two points, 16-14. Giovanni Guidetti called his ladies off court at 18-17 to calm down the emotions and giving new instructions. Nikolic stopped Corina Ssuschke-Voigt at 19-18 and Malagurski added a winner at 20-18 to turn the tables in the fourth set. This was too much for Germany who completely lost focus. Serbia scored seven consecutive points until 24-18, before Krsmanovic closed the set out 25-20. 

The unbelievable comeback of the Serbian squad in the fourth set transformed the SC “Pionir” sports hall into a celebration palace. The more than 9’000 fans propelled the home squad to maximum power. Maren Brinker leveled the deciding set at 4-4 with a blistering winner from the left, but three consecutive points gave Serbia a well-deserved 7-4 lead. At changeover, the hosts still led by three points, 8-5. This was enough to pull through. Germany gave up resistance, finding no way to parry the flawless Serbian game. Nikolic brought up match ball at 14-8. Kozuch saved one, but Anne Matthes’ serve was too short to offer Serbia their first gold medal in history of Women’s European Championships.