SERBIA SWEEP BRAZIL AND RETAIN WORLD TITLEMVP Tijana Boskovic scores 24 as the Europeans return to

Unstoppable Serbia will continue as the reigning world champions for another four years after the Europeans successfully defended the title they first won in 2018 on Saturday, triumphing at the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.
The Serbians ended their undefeated 12-match campaign at the 19th edition of the tournament in an emphatic manner, sweeping (26-24, 25-22, 25-17) former FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Ranking leaders Brazil to claim gold and take their place on the podium again.
The fourth victory for Serbia over Brazil in 22 international encounters made of them just the sixth nation to win back-to-back editions of the World Championship, joining the former USSR (1952, 1956, 1960), Japan (1982, 1967), China (1982, 1986), Cuba (1994, 1998) and Russia (2006, 2010).
Nine players who were part of the roster that won the title in 2018 returned to triumph again in 2022 - setter Bojana Drca, opposites Tijana Boskovic and Ana Bjelica, outside hitters Bianka Busa, Brankica Mihajlovic and Bojana Milenkovic, middle blockers Maja Aleksic and Jovana Stevanovic and libero Teodora Pusic - now under the leadership of head coach Daniele Santarelli.
“I’m speechless,” team captain and MVP Boskovic commented. “These girls, this team, this energy…We did it without losing a single match. I’m so happy and so proud to be part of this team. I want to thank everyone that supported us these past three weeks, especially my family.”
The victory also crowns an excellent phase for Serbian women’s volleyball as the country’s national team has had tremendous success over the last six years, winning two world titles, two Olympic medals (silver in Rio 2016 and bronze in Tokyo 2020), two European titles (2017, 2019) and a bronze medal at the VNL (2022).
Italy shut out USA for bronze Italy earned the bronze medals after defeating the United States. The reigning Volleyball Nations League and European champions produced an impressive 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 27-25) shutout of the reigning Olympic champions in the match for third place. The Italians have now collected a full set of World Championship medals, also including their 2002 gold and 2018 silver.
Italy’s 23-year-old star opposite Paola Egonu delivered another high-scoring performance and led her team to victory with a match-high 25 points to her name. She tallied 20 spiking points at a 53% success rate in attack and added four kill blocks and an ace to her record. Her American counterpart Andrea Drews with 10 points was the only other player to reach double digits in the match.
Dream Team
Best Outside Hitter - Myriam Sylla (Italy) Best Outside Hitter - BRA Gabi (Brazil) Best Middle Blocker - ITA Anna Danesi (Italy) Best Middle Blocker - BRA Carol (Brazil) Best Libero - SRB Teodora Pusic (Serbia) Best Setter - SRB Bojana Drca (Serbia) Best Opposite - SRB Tijana Boskovic (Serbia) MVP - SRB Tijana Boskovic (Serbia)
Information and photo source : International Volleyball Federation
Comments