0-2-3-2: The Yellow Tigers stunt in the European Championship against Russia, the first country | European Volleyball Championship

The Yellow Tigers lost 3-0 to Serbia, the European and world champions and the bronze medalist from Tokyo yesterday, but their performance on the field gave them a strong boost.

As No. 11 in the world, they faced Russia ranked 5th, seventh in the Games, free and cashed their chance. And with Herbots on the team, who was unsure about his abs.

The Belgians got off to a great start (12-6), but halfway through an inexplicable reception a dip ensued. With the Russian star Federovtseva (17 only) in transmission, Russia scored 9 (!) Points in a row. However, Belgium continued to hold on.

The last stage of the first group turned into nervous trouble, for both Belgium and Russia. Belgium was the first to push two set pieces, but it was missed. Russia also missed the group’s chances. Setball also lost 3 and 4 to the Belgians who did not play well.

In a confused stage, Russia got 29-30 after an incomprehensible challenge to the Belgians. But the group is gone: 29-31.

In the second group, the Tigers failed to score and were late all the time (4-8 to 12-19). In Russia, everything went in reception, hardly anything went wrong offensively. There was a short recovery, but Belgium ran 0-2:21-25 behind.

Anyone who watched the second set didn’t give an extra penny to the Tigers’ chances. But they once again showed their well-known fighting spirit. In the Nations League too, they actually corrected the losing situation several times by winning 3-2.

And that’s what happened now too: in the third set, Belgium slipped first with a score of 0-4, but then the machine started to spin. Especially as the transmissions continued to improve. Herbots and colleagues won at every level. Russians: 25-13.

In Group D, Belgium was also the best away from home (6-4), but for a while it seemed like a scenario like Group 1 had arrived with 5 points in a row for Russia (6-9).

Red alert stage. However, the Russian serve faltered and with the combat volleyball (and the powerful Janssens and Herbots), the Tigers got two sets of balls (24-22), also because Fedorovtseva made two fouls. The first group ball was the right ball right away. After a long run, the Herbots hit: 25-22.

One point was already there, but it became 2. In the fifth and decisive set, Belgium made a light start (3-0). Van Gestel excelled, but Russia came along (10-10). The nerves were screaming with Russia causing some mistakes. After a successful float service, Herbots manage to force 3 matching balls. I completed it immediately in style: 15-11. She appears to have a few problems with her stomach muscles.

The joy of the Belgians was immense. They scored unexpected points. After beating Azerbaijan in the first match tomorrow, the victory over Bosnia will be enough to advance to the top four in the group. After that, the Belgians are still playing against France with a surplus.