Yokohama, Japan, October 18, 2018 - Tijana Boskovic scored a match-high 29 points as Serbia defeated the Netherlands 3-1 (25-22, 26-28, 25-19, 25-23) in the semifinals of the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship on Friday afternoon. The Serbian opposite said team togetherness made the difference in the outcome.
Serbia coach Zoran Terzic: This is our biggest success in the World Championships in Serbian volleyball history. It was our dream. Now we need to sleep a little more and do our best tomorrow. It will be a difficult match. The pressure was big. We did our best. It doesn't matter if it is Italy or China in the final. The styles are a bit different, but it doesn't matter to us.
Serbia captain Maja Ognjenovic: That was one of the most difficult matches of my career. It was an important game. We lost to them a few days ago. We had ups and downs in the match. We are happy and proud that we won. We hope to have time to prepare for the final.
Serbia player Brankica Mihajlovic: It was an extremely tough match. They have played well the entire tournament. I'm happy that in the third set we came back to win it. We hope to continue and have one more match tomorrow.
Serbia player Tijana Boskovic: We are happy and proud at what we have done in making the final. We played as a team and played together in difficult moments. That is why we won. We will do our best tomorrow.
Netherlands coach Jamie Morrison: Serbia is one of the best teams in the world. I'm proud of my team's fight. We were not consistent enough today. There were some four or five-point stretches that cost us. We are disappointed. It hurts but we have to move on and try to get the bronze medal tomorrow.
Netherlands captain Maret Balkestein-Grothues: There were ups and downs today. Our sideout was not fast enough. We are disappointed. We can still reach our goal and win a bronze medal tomorrow. We will come together as a team and play hard.