Voronkova Leads Russia Past Belgium, Boskovic Helps Serbia Edge Turkey

  0 Wendy Mayer | May 31st, 2018 | European volleyball, FIVB Nations League - Women, International Volleyball, News

2018 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League – Week 3 / Pool 10

  • May 29-31, 2018
  • Kraljevo Sports Hall; Kraljevo, Serbia
  • Time Zone: UCT + 2 (ET + 6)
  • World Rankings: #3 Serbia, #5 Russia, #12 Turkey, #13 Belgium
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  • Schedule/Results
Date Time Score Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Total Report
29 May 17:00 Belgium  0–3  Turkey 19–25 18–25 24–26 61–76 P2 P3
29 May 20:00 Serbia  3–0  Russia 25–23 25–19 25–18 75–60 P2 P3
30 May 16:00 Turkey  2–3  Russia 23–25 25–19 25–23 20–25 11–15 104–107 P2 P3
30 May 19:00 Belgium  0–3  Serbia 20–25 16–25 14–25 50–75 P2 P3
31 May 17:00 Russia  3–1  Belgium 25–21 25–20 23–25 25–18 98–84 P2 P3
31 May 20:00 Turkey  2–3  Serbia 20–25 25–22 25–18 23–25 12–15 105–105

 

Russia def. Belgium 3-1

  • Russia defeated Belgium 25-21, 25-20, 23-25, 25-18
  • Russia moved to 6-3 (17 points); Belgium moved to 2-7 (6 points)

Irina Voronkova was too hot to handle for Belgium as the Russian star put up 23 points in a four-set win Thursday.

Voronkova pounded down 17 kills and added four blocks and two aces for good measure to guide Russia to victory. Daria Malygina (16) and Angelina Lazarenko (13) aided the effort. Malygina accounted for 12 kills, two blocks and two aces, while Lazarenko was key at the net with eight kills, four blocks and an ace. Olga Biryukova chipped in eight points, including seven putaways. Ekaterina Efimova played just three sets, notching four kills in eight swings. Kseniia Parubets had the evening off.

Britt Herbots (14), Kaja Grobelna (14) and Celine Van Gestel (10) registered double-digit scoring efforts for Belgium. Herbots and Grobelna posted 12 kills apiece, while Grobelna also added two blocks. Van Gestel scored all 10 of her points on putaways. Marlies Janssens assisted the team with eight points, including a team-best four blocks. Nathalie Lemmens tacked on six points, including a team-leading two aces.

Russia edged Belgium in kills (51-43), blocks (12-10) and aces (9-4), but were far from perfect, giving away 27 points on errors (to 24 for Belgium).

Voronkova guided Russia in sets 1 and 2, but Herbots and Grobelna answered her to keep Belgium close in Set 2. The teams were tied at 15, before the Russians closed out the win on a 10-5 run, including a Voronkova ace and back row putaway.

Russia seized a 5-1 lead in Set 3, but soon faced a 12-7 deficit as Lemmens took over with an impressive serving run for the Belgians. Voronkova answered with five kills to tie things up at 13. Van Gestel upped her game and Laure Flament added two kills to give Belgium a set point try. Grobelna extended the match with a back row kill to cap a 25-23 win.

Belgium carried the momentum into Set 4, going up 13-11, but it was all over from there as Russia scored nine straight en route to a 25-18 win. Lyubushkina served up three straight aces in the rally to help put the match out of reach.

While Russia kept its foot in the door for a possible Final 6 berth with the win, the team must now face the cream of the crop in No. 1 China, No. 2 USA and No. 4 Brazil in Jiangmen, China, next week.

 

Serbia def. Turkey

  • Serbia defeated Turkey 25-20, 22-25, 18-25, 25-23, 15-12
  • Serbia moved to 8-1 (23 points); Turkey moved to 6-3 (19 points)

Serbia picked up two key points in the VNL standings, rallying for a five-set win over Turkey after trailing 2-1 in the back-and-forth match.

Turkey boasted a slight edge offensively (57-52 in kills), while Serbia controlled the net (12-9 in blocks). Both teams served up 10 aces, while Serbia had help from five extra Turkish miscues (32-27), although both teams totaled 105 points for the match.

Tijana Boskovic accounted for nearly a third of Serbia’s tally with 28 points, with 23 kills, a team-high four blocks and an ace. Brankica Mihajlovic and Milena Rasic poured in 16 points apiece to help lift Serbia to victory, notching 14 and 11 kills respectively and each serving up two aces. Jovana Stevanovic put up four blocks in just over three sets of action to help limit the Turkish attack, while Rasic added three stuffs.

Maryem Boz, Eda Erdem Dundar and Zehra Gunes each posted double-digit scoring efforts for Turkey with 21, 15 and 14 respectively. Boz downed 17 kills to go with three aces and a block, while Erdem Dundar and Gunes notched 10 putaways and three blocks each. Erdem Dundar also led the team from the service line with two aces alongside Meliha Ismailoglu (9 points).

Turkey led by as many as three twice in Set 5, last at 8-5 as Boz scored four of the team’s first seven points. Serbia evened the score both times and grabbed a 12-10 lead of its own on a block by Boskovic. She then added two more kills as Serbia claimed the 15-12 victory.

In Set 2, Serbia scored seven in a row to take a 20-18 lead, only to see Turkey steal away the set at 25-22.

In Set 3, Boz starred, serving up an ace early on and then contributing a huge kill at 20-15 to kick off a late rally which gave Turkey the 2-1 lead.

Set 4 belonged to Boskovic and the home side as she contributed a key block to end a 6-0 scoring run for Turkey and then tooled the block to give Serbia set point at 24-20.

With the win, Serbia stays with the lead pack of three in the VNL standings at 8-1, while Turkey remains in the Top 5 in fifth (6-3, 19 points) just ahead of Russia (6-3, 17 points).

 

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About Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer has worked in athletics media relations for the last 20 years. The Northwest Missouri State alumna is currently senior writer for Volleymob.com after spending the last 15 years with Purdue athletics.

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