Belgrade, Serbia, May 21, 2019 – World champions Serbia began their 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League campaign with victory against the Netherlands.

Zoran Terzić, head coach of Serbia: “It is normal that we played to win, because we played at home, and we saw the desire of the players to do their best in front of the home crowd. The level of play was not so great, because the girls are tired and we didn’t have a chance to train a lot with the team. But we are going slowly, we are introducing new players and we hope to raise the level of our performance as the tournament progresses.”

Jamie Morison, head coach of the Dutch: “It is not easy to play against the reigning world champions at home. I am proud of my team, how they handled the environment. We have a mixture in the team of older and younger players and we still need to work a lot.”

Sladjana Mirkovic, setter in the Serbian team: “I would have to congratulate my team on the victory, and I am especially happy that we performed well in front of the home crowd. I think we did a good job today.”

Laura Dijkema, team captain of the Dutch: “I think it is not the start we hoped for, it was a difficult match for us, but we are a young team and I am proud of my teammates.”