WARSAW, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) — Argentina men’s volleyball team beat Serbia 3-1 in the opening match of the Hubert Wagner Memorial 2022 in Krakow, Poland on Thursday.
The tournament is the last test before the 2022 FIVB Men’s World Championship, to be played from August 26 to September 11 in Poland and Slovenia.
The beginning of the first set was tight but Argentina built a 19-15 advantage. The favorites handled the pressure mainly thanks to Agustin Loser, who found an ace to score twice in a row. A moment later, Bruno Lima spiked to close the set at 25-21.
Igor Kolakovic’s side then responded, and the Argentinians had problems stopping Uros Kovacevic, who attacked effectively to lead Serbia to a 25-19 victory in the second set with six points.
The third set turned out to be a great spectacle. After Ezequiel Palacios’ mistake in the service area and a foot fault made by Lima, Serbia gained a 17-14 advantage.
However, Argentina turned the game into their favor as Facundo Conte started to threaten Serbia with massive spikes. Aleksandar Atanasijevic decreased Argentina’s advantage to 23-22, but Pablo Koukartsev’s ace allowed Marcelo Mendez’s team to win 25-22 and regain their lead in sets again.
The South American team continued their momentum as Palacios and Conte destroyed the Serbian defense to secure a 25-18 victory.
In the evening match, hosts Poland smashed Iran in straight sets 25-19, 29-27, 25-17. Bartosz Kurek and Karol Semeniuk led Poland with 12 points apiece. Saber Kazemi delivered 13 points for Iran.
