The Dutch volleyball players failed to reach the final of the European Championship on Friday evening. Reigning world champion Serbia turned out to be too strong with 3-1 (25-21, 15-25, 25-22, 25-21).
The Orange started the opening set well and managed to stay level with Serbia for a long time, but failed to win the set. The Dutch women recovered in the second set and managed to win it 25-15, making a stunt for the Orange seem possible for a while.
In the third set, the Netherlands continued to offer good resistance to the reigning world champion, but Serbia managed to take the set in the final phase. In the fourth set it looked like the Netherlands would extend the match. The Dutch ran out to 16-12, but could not keep that lead. The Serbian women fought back and managed to win the set, and thus the match.
The Netherlands will compete for the bronze medal on Sunday against defending champion Italy, who lost 3-2 to Turkey in the other semi-final.
Also read the interview with captain Laura Dijkema: The volleyball players are in the semi-finals, but according to captain Laura Dijkema it is ‘only now really starting’