Bari, Italy, September 13, 2018 – In a late match on the second day
of the tournament, Cameroon took on Serbia – and the bronze medallists
from last year’s European Championship secured a 3-0 victory (30-28,
25-16, 25-17).
Drazen Luburic stepped in for Aleksandar Atanasijevic and scored as many as 19 points, thus leading Serbia to their first triumph in Pool C of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in Bari. Along with the top scorer Luburic, team captain Nemanja Petric stood out in this superb performance for the Balkan team, putting 12 points to his name and delivering as a true leader. On the other side of the net, Nathan Wounembaina did not manage to avoid the loss, even though he scored 13 times in the match.
The Cameroonian ‘Lions’ were vying for their second triumph in the competition after the victory they claimed against Tunisia the day before. On the other hand, Serbia were aiming at getting back on track after their 2-3 loss against USA.
Italian national league champions Atanasijevic and Marko Podrascanin along with Uros Kovacevic did not feature in the Serbian starting six, while captain Petric was the obvious leader on the court. The venue was crowded with many cheering supporters, who enjoyed an engaging first set – and so it was from the very beginning. The African side, however, surrendered at 28-30 following a successful spike by Serbian middle blocker Srecko Lisinac.
Serbia remained focused and determined to avoid making any easy errors. In the second set, the Balkan team was clearly dominant and stormed to a 25-16 victory to seal a 2-0 lead in the match. Both coaches Blaise Mayam Re Niof and Nikola Grbic resorted to some of their reserve players, but they did so for very different reasons. Serbia used the match as an opportunity to test some of the players who had not taken to the court against USA. Cameroon tried to avoid a dangerous turn of events, but Yvan Kody, Junior Charles Engohe and Wounembaina did not manage to put enough pressure on Serbia, who closed the match at 3-0.