25-Nov, start time: 12:30, end time: 13:35 - Attendance: 1,650

SCG	3	25	25	25	-	-	75
TUN	0	16	14	21	-	-	51

Match Description:

Serbia & Montenegro Make it Eight from Eight
Serbia and Montenegro sent Tunisia crashing back down to earth at the men's World Cup of Volleyball when they powered to a comfortable 3-0 victory at Site A in Fukuoka.

Tunisia, who had won their first World Cup match the night before with a thrilling, five-set victory over Japan, were unable to cope with the Olympic champions superior power and defense, and in particular the blocking of Andrija Geric, as they succumbed to a 25-16, 25-13, 25-21 defeat, their seventh in eight games.

Serbia and Montenegro, meanwhile, remain undefeated and will travel to the final round in Tokyo in buoyant mood and confident of claiming one of the three Olympic qualifying places on offer and perhaps finishing top of the World Cup rankings.

The Europeans wasted little time stamping their authority on the match and quickly opened a 6-2 lead thanks to a Geric block, powerful serving from Novica Bjelica and the spiking of Ivan Miljkovic. Hosni Karamosly did his best to make the score-line respectable but Tunisia were unable to prevent the Blue Boys comfortably taking the first set.

The second set followed a similar pattern to the first. Milijkovic and Vladimir Grbic scored almost at will, while Geric continued to dominate at the net, preventing the Tunisia's attackers from having an impact, especially Noureddine Hfaiedh who had been so impressive against Japan. There was little the North Africans could do as Serbia and Montenegro raced to a two-set lead.

Such was the Blue Boys' dominance, coach Ljubomir Travica made some changes for the final set, giving setter Ivan Illic an extended run. Tunisia were more competitive and fought back from 17-10 down to 19-17. But Geric was in no mood to let the match go into a fourth set.

Comments:

TRAVICA Ljubomir (SCG Head Coach)
" We're very satisfied with the fact that we've earned eight victories as we had planned before coming to Japan. Today we used a couple of young players who performed very well. I think Brazil, Italy and SCG are highly likely to earn a ticket for Athens, and Brazil is the top contender."

GRBIC Nikola (SCG Captain)
" I think the first chapter of our World Cup was over today. We were able to fulfill what we had hoped for. With this victory we'll be able to advance to the final round with an easy mind. The most important match in the final round in Tokyo for us will be the first match against Brazil"

GIACOBBE Antonio (TUN Head Coach)
" To be honest, we didn't prepare anything for today's match against SCG because we thought SCG was a very tough team loaded with many tall and powerful players. I thought some injured and fatigued players should take a rest today for the upcoming matches in Tokyo."

GUIDARA Ghazi (TUN Captain)
" After fighting for fives set in the match last night, we couldn't fully recover from our fatigue. What makes matters worse, Khaled Belaid was sidelined and Noureddine Hfaiedh had to be substituted midway due to a physical problem. I think SCG and Brazil are the two strongest contenders in the World Cup. Because of the opponents' excellent serves, our serve reception was disrupted. Their towering blocking overwhelmed us."

Official Result:

Match statistics (P-2) - PDF