Serbia’s Brankica Mihajlovic Leads Group 1 With 57 Points After Week 1

2017 FIVB VOLLEYBALL WORLD GRAND PRIX

• Group 1
• July 7th – August 6th
• FIVB World Grand Prix Round 1
• Schedule/Results

The conclusion of week one of the World Grand Prix brings in a string of top players that showed off their dominance in the first week of play.

Brankica Mihajlovic of Serbia was the shining star in Group 1 with 57 points in the first week of play. With Serbia’s Tijana Boskovic, their leading scorer in the Olympic championship game last season, there have been plenty of Serbian points to go around.

Group 2’s Angela Levya dominated the entire competition with 71 points after the first three matches of the World Grand Prix. Her Peruvian team went 2-1 in the first week of play. She was consistent with 24, 23, and 24 points in her team’s three matches, respectively. At only 20 years old, she was also a force earlier this summer playing for Peru’s U20 team, and has had no problem transitioning to the senior level.

In Group 3, Rachel Rourke from Australia led with 61 points.

Group 1

Best Scorers

1. Brankica Mihajlovic (SRB) – 57 points
2. Paola Ogechi Egonu (ITA) – 53 points
3. Irina Voronkova (RUS) – 52 points
4. Celeste Plak (NED) – 49 points
5. Bethania De La Cruz De Pena (DOM) – 48 points

Best Spikers

1. Brankica Mihajlovic (SRB) – 53 kills
2. Irina Voronkova (RUS) – 48 kills
3. Paola Ogechi Egonu (ITA) – 42 kills
4. Celeste Plak (NED) – 42 kills
5. Bethania De La Cruz De Pena (DOM) – 41 kills

Best Blockers

1. Victoria Vargas Valdez Annerys (DOM) – 13 blocks
2. Robin De Kruijf (NED) – 12 blocks
3. Jineiry Martinez (DOM) – 10 blocks
4. Roberta Silva Ratzke (BRA) – 9 blocks
5. Ana Beatriz Correa (BRA) – 8 blocks

Best Servers

1. Paola Ogechi Egonu (ITA) – 7 aces
2. Xiaotong Liu (CHN) – 6 aces
3. Michelle Bartsch-Hackley (USA) – 5 aces
4. Carli Lloyd (USA) – 5 blocks
5. Kseniia Parubets (RUS) – 5 blocks

Brankica Mihajlovic of Serbia had a terrific first week of play, with a total of 57 points with 53 being kills. Her week of play helped the Serbian crew to a perfect week, going 3-0 earning all nine points available to them.

Group 2

Best Scorers

1. Angela Leyva (PER) – 71 points
2. Alexa Lea Gray (CAN) – 54 points
3. Malwina Smarzek (POL) – 51 points
4. Dayana Segovia (COL) – 49 points
5. Nasya Dimitrova (BUL) – 45 points

Best Spikers

1. Angela Leyva (PER) – 62 kills
2. Alexa Lea Gray (CAN) – 48 kills
3. Dayana Segovia (COL) – 40 kills
4. Malwina Smarzek (POL) – 38 kills
5. Louisa Lippmann (GER) – 36 kills

Best Blockers

1. Ema Strunjak (CRO) – 9 blocks
2. Hristina Ruseva (BUL) – 9 blocks
3. Iva Nachmilnerova (CZE) – 8 blocks
4. Nasya Dimitrova (BUL) – 8 blocks
5. Irina Kenzhebaeva (KAZ) – 7 blocks

Best Servers

1. Bozana Butigan (CRO) – 7 aces
2. Maria Alejandra Marin (COL) – 6 aces
3. Malwina Smarzek (POL) – 6 aces
4. Katerina Tatko (KAZ) – 6 aces
5. Daly Santana (PUR) – 6 aces

Leading the Group 2 scorers list is Angela Leyva of Peru with 71 points, dominating the field, with the next closest scorer being Canada’s Alexa Lea Gray with 54 points.

Group 3

Best Scorers

1. Rachel Rourke (AUS) – 61 points
2. Lizbeth Sainz (MEX) – 48 points
3. Greta Szakmary (HUN) – 47 points
4. Alexandra Dascalu (FRA) – 45 points
5. Eliza Hynes (AUS) – 44 points

Best Spikers

1. Rachel Rourke (AUS) – 43 kills
2. Greta Szakmary (HUN) – 39 kills
3. Alexandra Dascalu (FRA) – 39 kills
4. Lizbeth Sainz (MEX) – 37 kills
5. Eliza Hynes (AUS) – 34 kills

Best Blockers

1. Sinead Jack (TTO) – 11 blocks
2. Stephanie Fotso Mogoung (CMR) – 11 blocks
3. Patricia Valle (MEX) – 11 blocks
4. Shirley Florian (VEN) – 10 blocks
5. Marie-France Garreau Dje (FRA) – 9 blocks

Best Servers

1. Rachel Rourke (AUS) – 16 aces
2. Lizbeth Sainz (MEX) – 5 aces
3. Eliza Hynes (AUS) – 5 aces
4. Juliette Fidon (FRA) – 5 aces
5. Greta Szakmary (HUN) – 3 aces

Rachel Rourke of Australia took a dominant lead in the Group 3 scorers list with 61 points, including 43 kills and 16 aces. Rourke’s aces are 11 more than any player in Group 3.