Familiar faces to star for Serbia at VNL 2024

Serbia will be one of several national teams looking to qualify for the Paris Olympics during the Volleyball Nations League 2024 and head coach Igor Kolaković selected an experienced roster for the task.

The 30-player squad selected by the 58-year-old head coach contains most of the names that have been representing the country’s national team over the last decade and includes seven players who helped Serbia win the FIVB World League back in 2016.

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The roster contains 13 of the 14 players who represented the country at last year’s Volleyball Olympic Qualifier, with libero Miloš Krsteski being the only athlete not to return among the three options picked by Kolaković for the position.

After sitting out of international competition in 2023 due to an injury, setter Nikola Jovović will be back with the Serbian squad this season. A U19 world champion in 2009, he has been part of the country’s senior team since 2012.

In his return, Jovović will get to work with some familiar faces, such as opposite Aleksandar Atanasijević, outside hitters Marko Ivović and Uroš Kovačević and middle blocker Marko Podraščanin, who are all part of Kolaković’s selection.

A major absence from the list is veteran middle blocker Srećko Lisinac. A key member of the team for the last decade, he underwent lumbar spine surgery because of a back injury 11 months ago and hasn’t been able to return to the courts since then.

Serbia will attempt to finish the VNL Preliminary Phase among the four best national teams in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Rankings still without a spot guaranteed in Paris. The Europeans are currently the fourth-best team in that situation, behind Italy, Argentina and Slovenia, and rank ninth overall.

The Serbians, who last appeared at the Olympics in London 2012, missing the last two editions of the event, will be in Rio de Janeiro in the opening week of the VNL, from May 21-26. They will play Iran, Japan, hosts Brazil and Germany over the week.

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Serbia men’s national team full roster (subject to eligibility check to be conducted by the FIVB):

Setters: Aleksa Batak, Matija Milanović, Nikola Jovović, Nikola Petrović, Vuk Todorović
Opposites: Aleksandar Atanasijević, Dražen Luburić, Dušan Nikolić, Luka Stanković, Nikola Meljanac
Outside hitters: Davide Kovač, Lazar Bajandić, Luka Tadić, Marko Ivović, Miran Kujundžić, Uroš Kovačević, Pavle Perić, Veljko Mašulović, Vuk Ivanković
Middle blockers: Aleksandar Bošnjak, Aleksandar Nedeljković, Aleksandar Stefanović, Andrej Rudic, Marko Podraščanin, Nemanja Mašulovic, Petar Krsmanovic, Vladimir Gajović
Liberos: Dušan Jović, Milorad Kapur, Vukasin Ristić

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