Volleyball…Beijing 2008

Full article from Yahoo Sports.

Scroll down to see video on the right.

Love, not money, has kept Serbia’s top volleyball player Ivan Miljkovic on track for his third Olympic Games.

Even before the former Yugoslavia broke apart in a series of bloody conflicts, volleyball could never match the financial rewards offered in the far more popular team sports of soccer and basketball.

 

During the war-torn 1990s, less money than ever was available to top-level athletes in an economy ravaged by political strife and international isolation.

Serbia beat Spain in the final of the European Qualification in 5 and has qualified for the Beijing Olympic Games.

3-2 (24-26, 16-25, 25-19, 25-15, 17-15)

Interview with Jelena Nikolic from Serbia, from Andrea Zorzi.

An article from peoples daily giving some info on the Serbia- Korea game.

European runner-up Serbia held off bold challenge from South Korea to claim a 25-21, 25-23 and 25-15 victory at the women’s volleyball World Cup opener in Tokyo on Friday.

“It’s always hard to play the first match and we knew we would have a big chance to win if we had good service, I think our performance will be better and better in the next games,” said Serbia head coach Zoran Terzic.

It seemed to be a lopsided match at the beginning of the contest when Serbia raced to a 6-2 lead.

The World Cup has started and Serbia has opened with a win against Korea. 21,23,15.

Cuba took down Kenya 11,18,20. Full results and photos courtesy FIVB.

As of October this year, Jelena Nikolic of Serbia, will be competing in Japan in the V-League. The 194cm outside hitter is sure to be an influential player in this years World Cup as Serbia will fight for a top 3 finish. Maybe even more so with a bit of home crowd support behind her! Press release from Takefuji Corporation.