USA advance to World League Finals

BELGRADE, Serbia, July 6, 2014 - In the last match of the 2014 World League Pool B, USA beat Serbia 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 27-25, 25-20) and advanced to the Final Six to take place in Florence later this month. In front of 7,600 cheering fans of the Pionir Hall in Belgrade, the home side failed to deal with the pressure this game brought upon their shoulders. 

Key points:
• Sealing a 3-1 victory over Serbia, USA capped on top of Pool B with 24 points ahead of Russia (24 points also but with a lower win-loss set ratio), Serbia (20) and Bulgaria (4). 

• USA join Russia, who earlier registered a straight-sets win over Bulgaria, as Pool B finalists to progress to the 2014 World League Final Six in Florence (16-20 July). Both teams will meet Pool A leaders and hosts Italy, Iran (second in group A) and Brazil (third) plus the Group 2 Final Four winners to be decided in Sydney next week (11-13 July). 

• USA won nine of their World League 12 matches and lost three of them (3-2 against Bulgaria, 3-0 against Russia, 3-0 against Serbia yesterday). 

• USA and Serbia met seven times in World League history with USA leading 4-3. They also played the 2008 Final, won 3-1 by USA.