Boskovic tips Serbia to long-awaited first win in VNL 2025

Reigning world champions Serbia finally scored their first win in the women’s Volleyball Nations League 2025. With star opposite and captain Tijana Boskovic joining the team for the first time this season, they found a way to turn their game against Czechia in Apeldoorn on Wednesday around to a four-set victory. This result propelled Serbia two spots up from the relegation-doomed 18^th place in the current VNL standings. They are now 16^th on a 1-8 win-loss record and 8 points, handing the bottom of the table to Korea, who stand on 1-8 and 4. VNL rookies Czechia occupy ninth place on 4-5 and 10, just below the cut-off for the Finals in Lodz.

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Serbia took some time to find their rhythm in the match. Czechia dominated the first set’s epilog to take the lead. They kept the fight up in the next sets and, in the third, they even wasted a double set point, but finally Serbia brought home the three points with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 28-26, 25-18) victory.

Boskovic raised two kill blocks and hammered 16 kills in attack to share the team’s top scorer honors with 20-year-old outside hitter Vanja Ivanovic, who registered three stuffs and 15 successful swings. The other 20-year-old Serbian outside, Aleksandra Uzelac, put away 15 points, while middle blocker Maja Aleksic scored 12 points, including the match winner.

Experienced outside hitter Helena Grozer delivered a match-high 21 points for Czechia, while middle Magdalena Jehlarova impressed with five kill blocks towards a 15-point tally.

“It was very exciting to be back with the team. It was our first win in this year’s VNL and we are happy, of course,” Boskovic told VBTV. “It was a really tough game, but I would like to give credit to my team for fighting. Today we struggled a little bit, especially in transition, but I hope in the next games we can show a better performance. But a win is a win. We will celebrate a little bit and then focus on tomorrow’s game.”

The next match in Apeldoorn, between Italy and Belgium, serves off at 17:00 local time (15:00 UTC). The pool in Arlington opens for business at 12:30 local time (17:30 UTC) with Germany taking on Canada.

Volleyball Nations League 2025: full schedule and results

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