Serbia inflict first defeat on France in 2021 FIVB Men's VNL

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RIMINI, Italy, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Serbia became the first team to beat France with an excellent comeback from two sets down here on Friday in the 2021 Men's Volleyball Nations League.

Serbia's Aleksandar Atanasijevic got a team-high 24 points, and his teammate Marko Ivovic added 15 points in Serbia's 3-2 (22-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-23, 15-9) victory over France. Stephen Boyer got a game-high 26 points and Daryl Bultor and Yacine Louati both gained 12 points for France.

"It was a really important match for us so we wanted to fight until the end. I can say that France is an amazing team, so that's why this victory is even more important," said Atanasijevic.

"We could have played better, especially in the first set when we make many unforced mistakes, and if we make fewer mistakes we can also win tomorrow," he added.

Elsewhere, the Netherlands grabbed its first win after outlasting Germany in five dramatic sets (25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 23-25, 15-13).

"We have to stay humble, but being here is a learning process for us. We take each match as it is, so step by step and we will see," said Dutch player Thijs Ter Horst.

Friday's matches also saw Slovenia smash Argentina 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-18), Brazil beat Japan 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-20), Iran overcome Italy 3-1 (26-24, 29-27, 21-25, 25-22), Poland sweep the USA 3-0 (25-17, 28-26, 25-17), Russia defeat Australia 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-21), and Canada beat Bulgaria 3-0 (28-26, 25-23, 25-16). Enditem

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