WCH 2022: a super Argentina defeat Serbia in straight sets to go to quarterfinals!

2 min read

6 September 2022 Ivan

Argentina back very close to 2020 Tokyo Olympics mode, in which it took the bronze medal, and sweeps Serbia for a spot in 1/4 finals of the 2022 FIVB Volleyball World Championship.
For the first time in 20 years, Argentina advanced to this stage of the competition.
After a start to the World Champs that left many doubts given it lost two of three games in the group stage in Ljubljana (as well as a tie break win over Egypt) and got through to the knockout stage as one of the four best third-placed sides, they played an amazing game today and beat Serbia in just three sets (25:23, 25:21, 25:23) in Gliwice, Poland.

The team commanded by Marcelo Méndez now will face Brazil, who defeated Iran in straight sets in the evening in other quarterfinal.
As for Serbia, this is a shocking defeat, as they literally stormed through the Preliminary Phase unharmed (all three wins, not a single set lost and they finished among the top-4 seeded sides).

In a high level match, Argentina was 3-4 points behind in the first two sets, getting more and more confidence as the match progressed, especially in the blocking (10 points at the end from this element).
Bruno Lima was the top scorer among the winners with 14 points and 67% in attack.
Uroš Kovačević put down one point fewer for Serbia, while Marko Podraščanin set up 4 blocks.

For Argentina, middle blocker Agustin Loser was also author of a very good performance in both spiking and blocking (he ended the game with 4 kill blocks). With the first one he leveled the first set at 13-13. With the second, he gave his team the first two-point lead at 21-19. Then his successful swing brought in set point at 24-22, soon to be converted to a 25-23 win by outside hitter Ezequiel Palacios with a monster block. Loser was also the most efficient spiker of the match, with eight attacks at a success rate of 89%.

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🏐| 2022 FIVB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | ROUND OF 16

September 3, 2022 | 📍Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Slovenia – Germany 3-1 (25:18, 25:19, 21:25, 25:22)
• Italy – Cuba 3-1 (25:21, 21:25, 26:24, 25:18)

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September 4, 2022 | 📍Gliwice, Poland
• USA – Türkiye 3-2 (25:21, 25:17, 22:25, 19:25, 15:12)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
• Poland – Tunisia 3-0 (25:20, 25:15, 25:20)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
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September 5, 2022 | 📍Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Netherlands – Ukraine 0-3 (16:25, 19:25, 18:25)
• France – Japan 3-2 (25:17, 21:25, 26:24, 22:25, 18:16)

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September 6, 2022

👉🏼 17:30 (Local Time) | 📍Gliwice, Poland
• Serbia – Argentina 0-3 (23:25, 21:25, 23:25)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH