Serbia rips Dominicans, snap five-game slide

Nina Cajic is leading Serbia in showing Filipino volleyball fans that height isn’t always the telling factor in winning games.

Serbia dismantled the Dominican Republic, 25-19, 25-23, 25-18, to end a five-game skid in the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Women’s Week 2 on Friday at Philsports Arena, as the 5-foot-11 Cajic delivered 13 points from 11 spikes and two blocks.

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The win ended the woes of Serbia, which suffered four consecutive five-set heartbreaks, including back-to-back setbacks to Japan and defending champion Italy in the Philippine leg.

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A Tennessee University grad who saw pro action for Indy Ignite, Cajic is showing her ‘heart over height’ mentality.

“I think we’re just trying to play as brave as possible and to show all the girls that are watching that it’s possible to win at this stage no matter the height, no matter anything if you work on it you can achieve what you want,” Cajic said.

“I just think being relentless, playing brave is what we’re trying to be,” said Cajic.

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The Dominicans, led by the 6-foot-5 Elizabeth Martinez, have an average height of 6-foot-1 and looked evidently taller than the Serbs. Cajic is 5-foot-11.

The 24-year-old outside spiker is leading the new generation of Serbian volleyball players trying to bring back the glory days of their program.

Serbia used to be a volleyball powerhouse with a silver medal in the 2016 Olympics and bronze in the 2020 Tokyo games, two FIVB World Championship titles in 2018 and 2022, and bronze in the VNL in 2022.

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But in recent years, Serbia missed the podium, including losing records in the VNL in the past three years.

“I think there was a switch of generations that is happening right now so we’re just trying to bring back the game that Serbia had before and just wanna say we love our fans and thank you for following wherever you are,” said Cajic.

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Anja Zubic had 16 points off 13 kills, two blocks, and an ace for Serbia, which improved to a 2-5 record.Serbia takes a one-day break before wrapping up its Pasig leg campaign against the United States on Sunday at 12 noon.

The Dominicans remained winless in seven games.