Belgrade.Serbia's women's national team gave the best gift for head coach Zoran Terzic's 60th birthday, after defeating Germany 3:0 (25:20, 25:22, 25:23) in their third match of the tournament in Group 7 during the final week of the Volleyball Nations League. The match was played in front of over 4600 spectators at "Belgrade Arena", who also witnessed the season's first appearance of star player Tijana Bošković.

This happened in the presence of Vladimir Nikolov, who was with his wife Maya and their daughter Daria, who is taking her first steps in volleyball. Georg Grozer also attended the match, coming to support his daughter Leana.

The opposite hitter, who had missed the "Blues'" matches until now, appeared for just one rally, but that was enough to ignite the stands. Bošković immediately scored with an attack and received thunderous applause from the Belgrade audience, after which Terzić allowed her to rest, as her teammates easily brought the match to a clear victory.

The victory was a kind of "delayed" gift for Terzic's jubilee, who turned 60 on July 9, and his team played one of their most stable matches in the tournament.
Serbia dominated for most of the match, with the main attacking burden falling on Nina Čajič. The hosts controlled the development of the first set, and in the second and third, they thwarted the Germans' attempts to get back into the game and deservedly achieved the final victory.

Čajič was outstanding for the Serbian team, playing a great match and finishing with 22 points (2 blocks, 3 aces). Branka Tica added 10 points (3 aces), and Maša Kirov contributed 9 points (3 blocks). Hena Kurtagić also played an excellent match, being very solid both in blocking and attacking.
For Germany, Mariya Tabachuks scored 10 points (2 blocks, 1 ace), and Anastasia Cekulaev finished with 9 points (2 blocks, 1 ace), but this was not enough to avoid the Bundesteam's seventh loss in this year's edition of the tournament.
After this success, Serbia and Germany now have an identical balance of 4 wins and 7 losses. The Serbians hold 11th place with 17 points, and the Germans are 12th with 14 points. Both teams have already secured their stay in the Nations League for the next season.
In their last match of the tournament, Serbia will face the Netherlands at 20:00 local time. The match has no significance for the standings but will be another opportunity for the Belgrade audience to welcome their favorites, and especially Tijana Bošković, who has returned to the court.

photos: Nikolay Varadinov