Volleyball: Serbia beat Australia 3-1 in Pool C at the Men's FIVB Volleyball World Championship

Serbia were already looking ahead to the second phase at the Men's Volleyball World Championship when they faced Australia at the PalaFlorio in Bari. Nikola Grbic's side narrowly lost their opening Pool C game in a five-setter against the United States but responded with comfortable wins over Cameroon and Tunisia - that guaranteed them a place in the top four of the 6-team group and progression. They had a good record against the Aussies and beat them 3-2 in the Nations League earlier this year, but a determined Australia outfit were desperate to keep their tournament alive following defeats against USA and Russia. The 'Volleyroos' got off to a positive start and led 6-2 in the opening set, but Serbia fought their way back and eventually took it 25-20. Australia responded by taking the second set 25-21, but ultimately could not hold their opponents, despite a 'never say die' attitude from Mark Lebedew's men. Serbia dominated the third set, taking it 25-17 and when they turned a 5-2 advantage in the fourth into 12-7 and then 18-13, the writing was on the wall. It finished 25-20, 21-25, 25-17, 25-19 after an hour and 46 minutes in the end and Serbia improved their record to 3-1, with one match to come, against pool leaders Russia.