La Serbia inizia il Campionato del Mondo U21 con il piede giusto

La Serbia ha superato i nervi della partita d'apertura e l'assenza di diverse giocatrici per iniziare bene la sua campagna del Campionato del Mondo U21 di pallavolo femminile 2023 a Leon, in Messico, giovedì.

Con 16 squadre nazionali di tutti e cinque i continenti in lizza, il torneo prosegue fino al 26 agosto nelle città messicane di Leon e Aguascalientes.

The tournament is streamed live on the Volleyball World YouTube channel.

Nella prima partita disputata a Leon, le medaglie d'argento dei Campionati Europei U21 dell'anno scorso hanno trionfato in una dura battaglia con la potenza asiatica della Cina, ottenendo una stretta vittoria per 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 26-24).

The Europeans made the trip to Mexico without seven players who would be eligible to compete in the tournament. Some of them, such as outside hitter Aleksandra Uzelac and middle blocker Hena Kurtagić, are with the country’s senior team at the European Championship while others had to sit out of the U21 World Championship due to injury.

“The first match in every tournament can be difficult in many ways,” head coach Vladimir Vasović said. “This one was particularly challenging for us because China play very fast and with a lot of combinations and we’re not really used to it. We had some ups and downs but I’m very happy that we were strong enough to find the solutions we needed to come back in the first set and to take the match.”

Opposite Anja Zubic was the top Serbian scorer in the match, with nine points (seven kills, one ace, one block), followed by outside hitters Ksenija Tomic and Una Vajagic, who produced eight points each.

“It was a great win for our team,” Vajagic commented. “I want to congratulate China for a great fight. I think we did very well as a team, but there are always ways in which we can improve. We’ll face Argentina tomorrow and I hope that we can have another good performance.”

On the Chinese side, opposite Yindi Wang was the main scorer with nine points (five kills, four aces), with outside hitter Shengyan Xie adding another seven.

La seconda partita della Pool C della giornata inaugurale ha visto la Polonia sconfiggere l'Argentina per 3-0 (25-17, 27-25, 25-23). La centrale Dominika Pierzchała ha realizzato 14 punti, seguita dalla battitrice esterna Natalia Rejment, con 10 punti. La top scorer dell'incontro è stata la battitrice esterna argentina Nicole Perez, con 16 punti.

**2023 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U21 World Championship: Match Schedule and Results**

Sempre a Leon, la Pool A è iniziata con l'Egitto che ha battuto la Thailandia per 3-1 (21-25, 25-13, 25-23, 25-19). Il battitore esterno Toqaallah Eassa ha realizzato ben 24 punti per i vincitori, mentre l'opposto Achirayaphorn Kumjaiboon ne ha realizzati 13 per gli asiatici.

The last match of the day will have hosts Mexico battling Japan at 20:30 local time (02:30 UTC, Friday).

In Aguascalientes, Italy also got an emphatic win in their Pool B debut, defeating African representatives Tunisia 3-0 (25-15, 25-8, 25-16) with 15 points from outside hitter Stella Nervini and 13 from opposite Anna Adelusi.

The other match of the pool, reuniting Brazil and the Dominican Republic, ended with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-12, 25-13) win for the South Americans, who counted on 13 points from outside hitter Helena Wenk and 11 from middle blocker Juliana Gandra.

In Pool D, the United States started their campaign with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-21) victory over NORCECA rivals Cuba. Opposite Abigail Mullen, who helped the Americans take gold at the FIVB Volleyball Girls' U19 World Championship last week, had a match-high 12 points, tallying the production of Cuban middle blocker Lisania Grafort.

Le rivali europee Olanda e Turchia si scontreranno nell'altra partita della pool, con inizio alle 20:00 ora locale (02:00 UTC, venerdì).

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