| Croatia stun Cuba in three sets | |
Senna Jogunica Usic topped Croatia with 15 points including four blocks while Sanja Popovic and Maja Poljak tallied 13 apiece. Cuban Yoanna Palacios led all the scorers in the game with 18 points and Yanelis Santos added 12. Cuba's Yoana Palacios started off the match with a massive spike, but it was a false dawn, as the early part of the contest was littered with mistakes. Ten of the first 14 points were decided by errors, Cuba edging Croatia 8-6 at the first technical timeout. The game settled down slightly after that, but errors were still the main currency out on the court. Croatia were 16-13 up at the second TTO thanks to three successive receiving errors by the Cubans, and they maintained that lead at 18-15. A couple of decent spikes by Wilma Salas and a couple of wayward hits by Sanja Popovic turned the game around. But Cuba couldn't hold on to their lead either, a netted serve bringing the scores level at 22. A big block by Mia Jerkov on Gyselle Silva put Croatia in front and an errant spike by Rosanna Giel gave the European team two setpoints. Cuba pulled one back on a long serve, but a spike by Maja Poljak put Croatia 1-0 up. Serving and receiving errors were the main feature at the start of the second set as the two teams once again failed to deliver consistent Volleyball. But the Cubans were starting to find their spiking range by the halfway point, with Palacios, Kenia Carcaces and Yanelis Santos hitting some hard shots through the Croatian defense. Croatia went on a five-point drive behind the serving of Marina Miletic (but mainly Cuban errors), but the scores were level at 15 thanks to two rockets by Santos. Croatia moved ahead again and looked on course to clinch the set at 23-20, but a netted serve by Jelena Alajbeg and two devastating and unreturnable serves by Palacios brought the scores level at 23. From that point on, the set refused to die. A combination of simple mistakes and brilliant spikes meant that the scores were still level at 32-32. Usic Jogunica then delivered two spikes that put Croatia 2-0 up. After Cuba went 5-4 up in the third set, Croatia drew level on a great block by Poljak on Carcaces and went two points ahead on successive blocks by Usic Jogunica. Cuba responded with blocks by Rachel Sanchez and Carcaces, but couldn't stop Croatia pulling six points ahead, with a couple of good points from Ana Grbac. But from 14-8, the scores narrowed to 15-14 thanks, in part, to some strong spiking by Santos. Croatia held on to their lead, but Cuba stayed close. Some fantastic defense by the Croatians brought them a famous victory. The Cubans failure to get the ball back gave Croatia matchpoint and a big thump by Popovic sent the Croatian players into a mass celebration on court. |
