Serbia retains volleyball world title over Brazil
The world champions were once again led to the title by all-rounder Tijana Boškovič, who scored 24 points. She scored ten times as many points in total and, as in 2018, she was named MVP of the championship. "I'm so proud of this team and I'm so happy to be a part of it," she said on international television.
The opening game belonged to the Brazilians, who led 7-3, but the Serbians then managed to stop their attacks, especially with great defence at the net, and equalised. The end belonged to them, although they did not take advantage of the 24:22 lead and only converted the third set point. The Olympic silver medallists from Tokyo played an even better second set, in which they jumped out to a 16:13 lead. They took the lead 20:16 and never let go.
In the third set, Brazilian coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes put in a second passer, Roberta, and left substitute setter Tainara on the floor, but it didn't bring a turnaround. The Serbian volleyball players completely dominated and did not allow any of their opponents to score double-digit points in the match. The Brazilian captain and the best smasher of the championship Gabi finished with nine points.
After another successful attack by Boskovic, the Serbians won their second medal of the World Championships and again the most valuable one. The Brazilians have their fourth silver and fifth valuable metal overall, having won bronze in 2014.