Serbia sweep Türkiye to end the VNL on a high

World champions Serbia ended what was for the most part a frustrating Volleyball Nations League 2025 campaign on a high, securing three victories in four matches in Apeldoorn this week and wiping away any risks of relegation they faced ahead of the start of the third and last week of the Preliminary Phase.

The last of the positive results they earned at the Omnisport Apeldoorn was a big one, as they took down reigning European champions Türkiye 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-18) to give their fans positive expectations about their attempt to make a three-peat at the FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship in just over a month.

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With Sunday's victory, the Serbians, who went winless in the first two weeks of the Preliminary Phase and headed to Apeldoorn facing serious risk of relegation, get to finish the VNL 2025 in 15th place, with three victories and 14 points. Türkiye, which qualified for the Finals and will play for the VNL title from July 23-27 in Łódź, Poland, continue in fifth place (eight wins, 23 points), but could lose their spot to China (eight wins, 22 points).

Brought in to steer Serbia in the last week of the Preliminary Phase, star opposite and team captain Tijana Bošković got the job done again, leading her team's victory with a match-high 21 points (18 kills, two blocks, one ace). Outside hitter Vanja Ivanović also had a productive shift, adding 15 points, with 12 kills, two blocks and one ace.

"I'm very happy and proud of how the team played this week," Bošković said. "I think we improved every match and today we showed what we can do. In the first weeks, even if we lost all eight matches, I was proud of how the team fought. We have a young team with a lot of potential and I feel that we couldn't have finished the VNL in a better way than we did today."

On the Turkish side, outside hitter Yaprak Erkek was the most prolific, getting ten points (nine kills, one block), one more than opposite Melissa Vargas.

"We had too many ups and downs this week, especially with our defeat to Czechia," outside hitter Meliha Diken reflected. "I was very proud of how we reacted to that loss yesterday against Italy, but today we didn't have the same energy and Serbia played really well. We know what we need to work on for the Finals and that's what we'll do."

Earlier in Apeldoorn, Belgium topped Czechia 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-21) and Italy downed the Netherlands 3-0 (25-23, 28-26, 25-18).

Celukaev gets ten blocks as Germany beat the Dominican Republic

Germany, which like Türkiye are also headed to Łódź for the Finals in ten days, ended their Preliminary Phase campaign on a high, beating the Dominican Republic 3-1 (25-20, 25-13, 21-25, 25-21) in the first match of the day in Arlington.

The Europeans are currently in seventh place, with seven wins and 23 points, but can still be passed by the United States, which are eighth with seven wins and 19 points. The Dominicans ended the VNL 2025 in 12^th place, with five wins and 13 points.

Opposite Emilia Weske, who scored 21 points (17 kills, two blocks, two aces), and outside hitter Lina Alsmeier, who added 20 (18 kills, one block, one ace), were the team’s top scorers, but the most impressive performance on the German side arguably came from middle blocker Anastasia Cekulaev, who tallied an impressive ten blocks in her 15-point performance.

Opposite Gaila Gonzalez scored 15 points for the Dominicans, with 12 kills and three aces.

Volleyball Nations League 2025: full schedule and results

Two more matches will be held in Arlington in the last day of the Preliminary Phase, with Thailand facing Canada at 15:00 local time (20:00 GMT) and the United States facing China at 19:00 (00:00 GMT, Monday).

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