The Yellow Tigers ended their first week of the Volleyball Nations League in Nanjing with an impressive win over Serbia. Belgium started strongly, took a 2-0 lead, saw Serbia come back to 2-2, but kept their composure in the tiebreak. The Tigers eventually won 3-2, claiming an important victory against one of the top nations in world volleyball.

Head coach Kris Vansnick made two changes to his starting seven, with Fransen and Debouck starting the match. Belgium got off to a strong start. In a closely contested opening set, the Tigers were the first team to create a small gap. At 6-4 and 10-7, Belgium took the initiative, with Britt Herbots scoring smoothly and leading the team forward. The Tigers extended their lead to 18-13 and also made the most of Serbia’s high number of errors. Serbia came back to within three points at 23-20, but Belgium stayed calm and deservedly took the first set.

The second set was not straightforward for Belgium either. Serbia increased the pressure from the service line and the Tigers quickly found themselves slightly behind at 4-6. But Belgium responded with the same weapon. With Herbots serving, the score turned from 6-7 into 11-7. The Tigers had found their rhythm, 15-9. Serbia came closer again at 15-12 through Aleksic’s attacking work and put pressure on Belgium in the closing stages with a strong blocking middle compartment, led by Aleksic and Kurtagic. At 21-19, the gap was down to two points, but the Tigers did not allow Serbia to get any closer. Belgium kept control and also won the second set, 25-22.

In the third set, Serbia came out firing. The Serbian side immediately built a 1-5 lead. Belgium managed to reduce the deficit to 5-8, helped by a few Serbian errors, but the Tigers could not quite rediscover the level they had shown in the first two sets. Serbia played with more aggression, while Belgium’s error count increased. The score moved from 11-16 to 13-18 and 15-21. With Zubic scoring fluently, Serbia took control of the set. Belgium still came back to within three points, but could not do more than that and lost the set 21-25.

The fourth set also started badly for Belgium. Serbia again made the better start and moved ahead 1-4. The Tigers battled back to within one point at 6-7, but Serbia continued to play at a higher level and found points too easily. At 9-13, 13-17 and 15-20, the Serbian women gradually extended their lead. Belgium kept fighting, but could not slow down Serbia’s attacking power enough. Serbia won the fourth set 20-25, sending the Tigers into a tiebreak for the third time this week in China.

Belgium started that tiebreak perfectly. The Tigers immediately took a 2-0 lead, forcing the Serbian coach into an early time-out. Belgium kept good pressure from the service line and showed more defensive control, making it difficult for Serbia to put the ball on the floor. At 7-4, Belgium looked on track to create a decisive gap, but Serbia stepped up and came back to 7-8.

What followed was a tense tiebreak in which neither team gave an inch. At 11-11, everything was still open, but the Tigers took control at exactly the right moment. Belgium pushed ahead to 14-11 and earned three match points. The second one was the winner. Pauline Martin sealed the match and, with a 15-12 win in the tiebreak, the Yellow Tigers claimed the victory.

After the match, Britt Herbots was especially proud of the team’s performance. “This means a lot. In the first two sets, we did a lot of good things, but then Serbia started to play their own volleyball. In the fifth set, we had to show once again that we never give up and that we keep fighting for every point. That is also the message we want to send. We know how difficult it is for us to stay competitive in this amazing competition, and that is why matches like this are so important. We finish this week with two wins and two losses, but above all with a lot of lessons and progress. I am very happy and, most of all, very proud of this team.”

Head coach Kris Vansnick also saw his team show character against a strong opponent. “We win again in five sets, as often happens with this Belgian team. In the third and fourth sets, we started to play a little too much in their way, with physical power. That is exactly what Serbia does very well. They also block extremely well and that made us a bit frustrated. I am happy that, in the fifth set, we found back the rhythm of the first two sets. We also have to be honest, Serbia gave us a few points in that tiebreak, but this remains a very important win. Beating Serbia does not happen often and I am very pleased with the team’s performance.”

Vansnick also looked back positively on the first VNL week. “I think we played three extraordinary matches, with three tiebreaks, in addition to the match against Czechia. We learned a lot and we did not move away from our path. Now we return to Belgium to train at our training centre in Leuven. We need a few days to recover and we also hope to get some players with small injuries fully back into the group. After that, another very challenging week awaits us in Turkey, but everyone is very excited to go and play in Ankara.”

Played for Belgium: Van Sas (6), Herbots (18), Lemmens (7), Demeyer (5), Martin (24), Fransen (8), Debouck. Came in: Bertels, Nagels, Deleu (4), Koulberg.