TOKYO (Reuters) – World champions Serbia remained unbeaten in Pool A of women’s volleyball at the Tokyo Olympics with a 25-21 25-11 25-20 victory over Kenya on Thursday while South Korea edged the Dominican Republic in a see-saw five-setter.
Serbia, silver medallists in 2016, were in complete control throughout the match and only trailed briefly in the third when they took their foot off the gas against the winless African side.
But Brankica Mihajlovic, who top scored with 17 points, got her team back on track as they stayed perfect in their pool ahead of the big clash against Brazil.
South Korea emerged after a thrilling 25-20 17-25 25-18 15-25 15-12 win, with captain Kim Yeon-koung leading the way with 20 points. Park Jeong-ah and Kim Hee-jin each had 16 despite the best efforts of the towering Dominicans, whose top scorer Brayelin Martinez is 2.01m tall.
“They are so tall and they have good technique, they are a good physical team. So we had to use our defence and be smart,” skipper Kim said.
“We tried everything, we tried to serve strong, read the rhythm of their players, how they react for the ball and how they defend. We prepared so much for this and we deserved this result.”
Earlier, Italy beat Argentina in straight sets in Pool B, wrapping up a 25-21 25-16 25-15 victory in just 72 minutes as Paola Egonu top scored for a third straight match with 17 points.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
