Serbia topped Japan 3-2 in the second round of the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup at the Sendai Gymnasium on Tuesday
Boskovic topped all scorers with 28 points, followed by Brankica Mihajlovic with 26 points, while Japan’s Miyu Nagaoka scored 22 markers. Serbia solidly planted a tough stance at the net, recording 21 blocks.
After trailing Serbia in the early stages of the first set, Japan came out on top in the first technical timeout 8-6. Both squads used their strengths that resulted to a tightly contested set. The score was deadlocked at 23-all when Milena Rasic’s attack did not go over the net that gave Japan set point. Serbia somehow forced a deadlock but Nagaoka’s spike and Saori’s service ace clinched the set for Japan 26-24.
Serbia commanded a 25-17 and 25-14 win in the second and third sets, respectively, with Boskovic and Mihajlovic doing the most of the damage to the Japanese defence with their strong spikes. Serbia led in the fourth set but Japan made a confident comeback as Sarina Koga notched two attacks to force a tiebreaker 25-21.
Serbia opened the decisive set with a 4-1 lead that forced Japan coach Masayoshi Manabe to call a timeout. Serbia mounted a wall that made it difficult for the Japanese hitters to score, aside from Nagaoka, who tried to keep her team stay in the game. With a couple more blocks from Serbia, the Japanese side conceded the set 15-9.