Serbia Beats Poland 3-1, Wins Bronze in Istanbul
In the bronze medal match at the European Championship, Serbia overcame a health scare on the bench to beat Poland 3-1 and claim a sixth straight continental medal.
With Serbia leading 3-0 in the third set, the bench suddenly found itself without its head coach. Zoran Terzic fell ill and had to receive medical attention, leaving his assistant Branko Kovacevic to run the team from the sideline. Right at that moment, with it still unclear whether Terzic would even make it back into the arena, Poland found its rhythm.
The Poles capitalized on the confusion that had taken hold of the Serbian side and reeled off a string of points to turn the set around, closing it out comfortably at 25-15. Terzic, fortunately for Serbia, returned to the Sinan Erdem Arena before the fourth set and retook his place on the bench. The team played the set with far more composure, held firm under the heaviest pressure right at the end, and sealed the win, and the European Championship bronze medal, on a final point and block from Tijana Boskovic.
Serbia won the bronze medal match, played on September 6, 2026, by a score of 3-1, with sets going 25-21, 25-19, 15-25 and 25-18. The match lasted 109 minutes in front of just over six thousand spectators, most of whom, according to reports from the arena, were cheering for Poland.
The statistics left no doubt about who carried Serbia’s attack. Tijana Boskovic was by far the most effective player on the court with 29 points and a strong 48 percent attack efficiency. Aleksandra Uzelac added 15 points and Hena Kurtagic 12. Reports differ on Branka Tica’s tally: the outlet 021 puts it at 12, while Sport klub reports 13. For Poland, Magdalena Stisjak was the standout with 28 points and 47 percent efficiency, while Poland’s head coach Stefano Lavarini used his timeouts trying to halt Serbia’s run in the first two sets.
Serbia breezed through the first two sets without much drama, sticking to its game plan and playing with the composure that outmatched its opponent. The third set, overshadowed by the health scare on the bench, was the only one Serbia let slip. In the fourth, Zoran Terzic’s team regained control and closed out the match.
Team captain Maja Ognjenovic said after the match that the win came after a difficult evening.
“Tonight we had a tough match, we managed to get past a good Polish team. It was important for us to win after yesterday’s game, which was one of our worst. I’m happy and proud that we recovered and came back into the match. We deserved this bronze.”
Asked whether this might mark the end of her national team career, Ognjenovic said it was “not yet the time” for that question, adding that fitting back into the team during this cycle had not been easy for her, which was why, she said, she had gotten emotional.
Hena Kurtagic said the team had already put the semifinal loss to Turkey, after which Terzic admitted his own tactical mistake, behind it by the very next day.
“I’m sorry we didn’t make the final yesterday, but that’s how it is. We showed fighting spirit after yesterday’s loss, and I’m glad we came out as winners. This is the first medal with Serbia for me and many of the other girls. I know there will be many more, and I’m really happy about that.”
The bronze from Istanbul is Serbia’s sixth medal in six straight European Championships, and its ninth overall counting the bronze won by the Yugoslav national team back in 1951. The gold went to hosts Turkey, who beat Italy in the final, the same team that had knocked Serbia out in the semifinal a day earlier.
Terzic’s squad ended the Istanbul tournament much as it began it: a team that drops sets and leads along the way, but knows how to come back. What remains an open question heading into the next cycle is how much longer Maja Ognjenovic, after a season like this one, will stay part of the team.
