GIRLS, HOLD YOUR HEADS HIGH: Our volleyball players fought like lions against Turkey, but lost – a battle for bronze awaits!

Serbia’s women’s volleyball national team failed to reach the grand final after losing 3:0 in sets to Turkey in the semifinal clash. Although our girls put up a strong fight, their opponents were more focused at crucial moments and secured a place in the battle for the gold medal, while Serbia’s players will now compete for the bronze medal.

This is the first time since 2015, after four consecutive European Championships, that Serbia will not play in the final.

The bronze medal match is scheduled for Sunday, against the loser of the Italy–Poland clash.

The match began fairly evenly, with the teams mostly trading points until the middle of the first set, when the Turkish players stepped up their game.

Terzić responded with timeouts, but Vargas was unstoppable.

She scored eight points by the end and led her national team to a first-set victory (25:20).

The second set began with major controversy, as referee Teodora Kariopoulou stole a point from Serbia. Terzić protested and was even shown a yellow card, but it did not help.

Turkey managed to pull away again, but Serbia put together a run and leveled the score at 12:12. However, that proved to be the last good spell from our national team for the remainder of the match.

Daniele Santarelli’s players finished the second set in furious fashion and opened the third in the same manner, quickly building a six-point lead.

Serbia had no chance of even getting back into contention for the remainder of the match, and Turkey deservedly moved to within one step of defending its title in Istanbul.