Hamamatsu, Japan, September 18, 2019 – Serbia beat Argentina 3-1 (25-15, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23) in the first match on the fourth day of the FIVB Women’s World Cup at Hamamatsu Arena on Wednesday.
Serbia coach Aleksandar Vladisavljev: "Today, we won a tough match and congratulations to Argentina for a very good game. They made a good impression. For us, the most important thing is the victory although we didn’t function completely as planned, but in the end we managed to win. I hope we will play better in the coming games. Blagojevic had an injury from the European Championship but she’s better now and her experience and presence on court is very important for us."
Serbia captain Ana Bjelica: Before the game, we knew it would be a tough match because Argentina have good defence and block, and we were prepared for a longer game, and it was a really long game. I’m really happy some players who didn’t play from the beginning came back. Jelena Blagojevic did a great job and gave us some opportunities in attack and defence. Argentina played really good. They have strong middle blockers and everybody knows Nizetich. So, I’m happy that we won and we have two wins."
Argentina coach Hernan Ferraro: "Today was an impressive game but unfortunately we couldn’t gain control of the match. Serbia have tall players, so we need to improve our reception and defensive techniques. The team performance and atmosphere is getting better and better in every match, but we need to improve more in the coming matches."
Argentina captain Julieta Constanza Lazcano: "Our opponents were stronger in attack and that’s why we lost, but congratulations to them. Today, we performed well but not at the beginning, so tomorrow against Kenya we need to play our best from the start."