NANJING, China, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Star spiker Tijana Boskovic scored 31 points to lead Serbia to a 3-1 win over hosts China in the bronze medal play-off of the 2017 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix Finals at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center on Sunday.
Boskovic recorded 25 attacks, two blocks and four aces to top all scorers in the match. Brankica Mihajlovic and Jovana Stevanovic also scored in double-figures with 18 and 11 points respectively. The Serbians crushed the Chinese team with 11 aces in the victory 25-22, 20-25, 25-23, 25-21 to claim the bronze medal, which they also took in 2011 and 2013.
"It is difficult to play against China because they have strong attack and they have the support of their fans," said Serbia coach Zoran Terzic, "We played much better today than yesterday. I am really satisfied with my team's performance not only in the Finals, but also for the entire tournament. We topped pool play and we only lost one match in the Finals, which is impressive. We will start to prepare for the European Championship in September.
Zhu Ting, played with a wrist injury, led China with 19 points, including 17 spikes and two blocks. Yuan Xinyue and Liu Xiaotong added 11 and 10 points.
"We had the chance to turn the tables but we lost the golden opportunity because of being too careful," said An Jiajie, head coach of China, "I want to thank my best player for playing well despite some injuries and fatigue."
The Chinese team benefit from 33 errors made by Italy, but the Italians had a more brilliant performance on offense as they scored 58 points by spikes and 11 aces, China had 46 and three respectively.
