BANGKOK, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Netherlands ousted two-time defending champion Serbia in a five-set thriller here on Friday to set up a quarterfinal clash with Japan at the women's volleyball World Championship.
The Serbian women, who were missing star hitter Tijana Boskovic due to injury, rallied from 27-25 and 26-24 down in the first two sets to level two back at 25-22 and 25-20, but the Netherlands prevailed in the tiebreaker 15-11 to land the victory.
Nika Daalderop led five Dutch spikers in double scoring digits with 19 points.
"I cannot believe it! I feel really happy!" said Marrit Jasper, who finished with 13 points from 11 kills and two stuffs for the Netherlands. "I feel really proud of the team. I think everybody was fighting a lot. The first two sets were really close, and after that, we dropped a little bit, but we fought back at the right moment. A quarter-final was our first goal, and now we go on to the next goal."
Aleksandra Uzelac notched a game-high 31 points to lead Serbia, which gave away 32 points through errors.
"It is very disappointing that we lost. We made a comeback from 2-0 to 2-2, and when you make such a comeback, you expect to win. So, this is going to hurt for a while and, hopefully, we remember this pain for the next years and learn from it," said Vanja Bukilic, who added 14 points for Serbia. "This season we grew together as a team, and I think we are just going to grow more and more each year."
Later on Friday, Japan saw off Thailand 25-20, 25-23 and 25-23 to meet the Netherlands in the first quarter-final match, which is scheduled for next Wednesday.
The first round matches of the knockout stage will continue on Saturday, with reigning Olympic champion Italy taking on Germany while Poland plays Belgium. ■
