Boskovic Leads Serbia Past Greece Into Semifinals
Serbia swept Greece 3-0 in the European Championship quarterfinals in Brno, reaching the semifinals for the eighth straight time. Terzic: we've met the first goal, now we're chasing a medal.
The arena in Brno went silent for a moment. Georgia Angelopoulou collided with a teammate while trying to receive a serve and stayed down on the court, forcing a stoppage of several minutes in the match between Serbia and Greece while she was carried off on a stretcher. On the other side of the net, the Serbian players waited for play to resume in a match that had, for all practical purposes, already sealed their spot in the semifinals.
Serbia reached that moment without a single real scare. Zoran Terzic’s side played the quarterfinal of the 34th European Championship on September 2 and beat Greece in a commanding 3-0, winning 25-14, 25-20 and 25-17. After an even start to the first set, Serbia ripped off a 5-0 run to go up 9-4, and from that point on Greece never seriously threatened the outcome.
Boskovic and Uzelac Power the Attack
Tijana Boskovic was the most effective player on the court with 17 points. Aleksandra Uzelac added 15, and Branka Tica finished with 12. Maja Ognjenovic ran the offense set after set, while Boskovic’s blocking and an ace from Mina Popovic pushed Serbia’s lead even further. For Greece, only Martha Evdokia Antouli and Elpida Tikmanidou kept pace, with nine points apiece, but that wasn’t enough to take a single set.
It was Serbia’s second win over Greece at this championship. The group-stage result had been identical in sets, also 3-0, that time 25-22, 25-20 and 25-17.
With the semifinal berth, Serbia reached the medal round of the European Championship for the eighth consecutive time, and Zoran Terzic pointed to that streak after the match.
“It sounds nice, no question. If I remember correctly, since 2007 we’ve missed the semifinals only once, in 2009. We’ve met a first goal. Even before we left, I said it would be a failure if this team didn’t reach the semifinals. Now we’re going to try to meet the second one too and win a medal,” Terzic said.
The coach also addressed Angelopoulou’s injury, which defined the match as much as the score did.
“It throws the players off quite a bit, they get a little emotional, they’re girls after all, they have to be. Those are things that unfortunately happen in sports and that we can’t do anything about. We all feel for her, but that’s fate,” Terzic said.
Serbia didn’t arrive in Brno unscathed either. Blocker Minja Osmajic broke her right hand in training, and Natasa Cikuc Dins was called up as her replacement. Serbia played the round of 16 against Croatia with that handicap and won 3-1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-12) after a psychologically difficult start. Mina Popovic picked up an injury in that match as well, but Terzic put those worries to rest after the win over Greece.
“Nothing serious, some pain, but thank God it passed,” the coach said.
Who Awaits in the Semifinal?
On Saturday, September 5, in Istanbul, Serbia will face the winner of the quarterfinal between Turkey and Germany. Turkey went in as favorites on home ground, and after eliminating Poland in the other quarterfinal, questions arose in the Serbian camp over whether that bracket draw suited the hosts a little too well. Terzic didn’t dodge the topic.
“I really don’t know if they wanted it or not. That match has some controversy around it, whether they let it go or not. From what I saw, it looks like they didn’t. From what the Polish players are saying, it looks like they did, but in the end it doesn’t really matter,” Terzic said.
Whether Serbia meets Turkey or Germany in the semifinal, the coach was clear about who he considers the bigger threat, at least when it comes to the more familiar rival.
“We know that opponent well, we’ve beaten them practically every time for a good number of years now, except for that last tournament, where they beat us in the fight for gold. We’ll try to play a good match in every way, to beat Turkey and to play one more final,” Terzic said.
An eighth straight semifinal appearance at the European Championship speaks for itself, few national teams in Europe can match that run. What Terzic said right after the Greece match, that reaching the semifinals would be the minimum and not a success, shows just how high expectations have risen around this team. The next test comes already on Saturday, September 5, in Istanbul.
