WL2017/ Luburic strikes 19 as Serbia see off Belgium

Tehran, Iran, June 11, 2017 – With Drazen Luburic scoring match high 19 points Serbia earned a crucial win over Belgium 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-20) and to finish the second week with three wins in a row.Quick Links
Mark Ivovic added another 13 points for the winners while Bram Van Den Dries (10) and Simon Van De Voorde (6) were among the top scorers for Belgium.Serbia and Belgium met already last weekend in their first ever World League encounter. Visiting Belgium won that match 3-0 in Novi Sad. The reigning champion Serbia entered Azadi court to revenge for their only defeat so far this season.Serbia, having already won two matches in Teheran thi weekend, drove the first set with a better confidence making the effort worthy and sealed 25-22. Serbia kept going to 8-2 in the second set, Kovacevic got at the helm for Serbia and Marko Podrascanin teamed up to draw numbers of 12-5 for the Serbians. Even though Belgium stopped losing ground, Nikola Grbic found his young players a safe choice for Serbia as he made three substitutions to show his trust. They battled 25-18 and made it a tough job for Belgium to recover. Belgium however, refused to give up and moved up 4-2. Serbia rapidly drew it even 7-7. The match went point by point in an intensive clash while Simon Van De Voorde blocked to revive hope for his teammates at 15-13. The reigning champion responded back at 15-15. Vital Heynen called his players out to remind them of the last victory over the same opposition. It was all in vain as Serbia closed the second TTO with one-point advantage. Heynen made two substitutions but Serbia prevailed 25-20.