The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix Macao 2016, organized by Sports Bureau of the Macao SAR Government and Volleyball Association of Macao, China and presented by Galaxy Entertainment Group, started today (17 June) at the Macao Forum.  China got off to a winning start with a straight set win (25-19, 25-17, 25-22) over Belgium, whilst Serbia came back from two sets down to win against Brazil (16-25, 29-31, 25-19, 25-19, 18-16).

In the first match of the day, despite falling behind 2-0, Boskovic (30 points) and Brankica Mihajlovic (26 points) inspired a remarkable for Serbia, who were looking for their first win of the 2016 World League campaign. Brazil's Fabiana Claudino and Natallia Pereria both scored 16 points for her side, but could not hold out to fall to a first defeat of their campaign.

Both teams had contrasting fortunes on the opening week of the World Grand Prix with Brazil looking to maintain their 100% record, whilst Serbia were still searching for their first win of the 2016 campaign. Serbia had never beaten their South American opponents before and were looking to salvage their tournament against a Brazil side packed full of quality. 

The teams traded points to start the match until Brazil that grabbed a three-point lead at the first technical timeout. Serbia battled back to tie the match at 12-12 but Brazil went on to score three consecutive points, forcing the Serbian’s to take a timeout at 12-15. A second ball-handling fault by the Serbian setter Ognjenovic allowed Brazil to take a 17-13 lead. Brazil continued to dominate play and the set was closed out with a huge triple block on Serbia’s Boskovic for a 25-16 win.

Brazil continued its strong play in Set 2, leading 8-5 and 16-13 at the technical timeouts. With Brazil leading 18-13 momentum switched in favor of Serbia. First Brazil committed two hitting errors and then Boskovic completed three consecutive kills to tie the score at 19-19. From that point forward it was anyone’s set and the teams thrilled the crowd as they pushed the score to 29-29. Fabiana broke the deadlock as she served up an Ace to give Brazil the set 31-29.

Serbia came out firing in the third set and jumped out to a 6-2 lead thanks to the strong play of Mihajlovic and Boskovic. The Serbians retained at least a three-point lead throughout as Brazil looked to have taken their foot off the pedal, giving the European side a route back into the match with a 25-19 win.

The Serbian’s turned things up a notch in set four, thanks to the strong serve of Mihajlovic. She remained on the service line for seven consecutive points and propelled her team to an early 11-3 lead. Brazil couldn’t recover and trailed by six at the second technical timeout. The teams traded points until Serbia closed out the set 25-19.

The teams traded points to start the fifth set but it was Mihajlovic and her powerful jump serve who gave Serbia the first significant lead at 5-2. Serbia jumped further ahead to 11-6 courtesy of an ace from Malesevic. But Brazil was not done and fought back with some incredibly inspiring play to tie the match at 14-14. The teams traded points until a Serbian triple-block ended the match at 18-16.

China then started the Macao leg of the tournament by defeating Belgium Friday evening 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-22).  China roared out to an 8-3 lead in set one, due in part to Shen Jingsi masterfully spreading the ball around to a variety of attackers. The Belgians were not intimidated though and closed to within two points courtesy of some creative offense of their own. The Chinese never relinquished their lead and they were able to finish the set via some strong serving from their captain Zeng Chunlei.

Set two started with the teams trading points but the Chinese were more consistent with their attack and gained an early 10-5 advantage. Belgium again battled back and closed the score to 9-11. China recovered by scoring the next five points due in large part to the blocking of Xu Yunli. China continued to build upon its lead, which
forced the Belgians to make a number of substitutions in the latter part of the set. The Chinese continued their dominant play and closed out the set 25-17.

The Chinese started strong in set three and jumped out to an early 8-4 lead. Belgium clawed its way back to tie the match at 16-16 due to impressive blocking from Lise Van Hecke and Laura Heyrman. The Chinese were resilient though as they never trailed their opponents. Two net faults by Belgium allowed China to regain a three-
point lead. From that point forward the teams traded points until China closed out the set 25-21. Zhang Changning led the Chinese with 14 kills while Xu Yunli and Yan Ni added 2 blocks each. Lise Van Hecke led Belgium with 13 kills and 2 blocks.

Belgium takes on Brazil tomorrow at 1430 while China plays Serbia in a matchup of today’s two winners at 1700.