Serbia's Milena Rasic celebrates the historic move to the semifinals in the Olympic Games
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 16, 2016 – Serbian Coach Zoran Terzic said to be satisfied with the straight- set victory over Russia but also suggested that the United States, their next opponent in semifinals, play more as a team and is much faster than Russia.
Zoran Trezic, Coach of Serbia: What can I say? I am very satisfied. My team played very well and at this moment we are in a very good shape. We were extremely strong in attack and serve, also in block, but especially attack and serve. We created many problems to Russian reception and neutralized Goncharova and Kosheleva. It is the first semifinals in the history of the Olympic Games and I hope this is not our last step forward.
On facing United States in semifinals
It is also a difficult opponent like Russia, but very different. Russia depends mostly on two players and United States play more like a team. They play much, much faster so we have to prepare for an absolutely different game.
Maja Ognjenovic, Captain of Serbia: It was a good fight for the last two sets. The Russians have two or three attackers who are very strong. This is a historic victory for us since we have lost twice to Russia in semifinals at European Championships. Here we were in a situation of in or out and I am really happy with the victory. We are not going to stop here. We are going to celebrate a little bit and then start thinking about the United States.
Yuri Marichev, Coach of Russia: We didn’t show our game and I feel sorry for the fans. We couldn’t overcome the nervousness of our players. We missed some veteran players who are not here, but all the teams are going through changes.
Ekaterina Kosianenko, Captain of Russia: I don’t want to say much. Only to tell the fans that I am very sorry after this match.