Coach Zoran Terzić leaves bench mid-match, Serbia still beats Poland for women’s volleyball bronze

The bronze medal match of the women’s volleyball tournament took an unexpected turn when Serbia coach Zoran Terzić left the bench due to a health issue. Serbia had just won the first two sets, but Poland took the third set 25-15 after the coach departed. Serbia responded in the fourth set, winning 25-18 to secure a 3-1 victory. Tijana Bošković led Serbia with 29 points, one more than Poland’s Magdalena Stysiak, who scored 28. Aleksandra Uzelac added 15 points, while Kurtagić and Tica each scored 12. The match highlighted Serbia’s depth and emotional resilience rather than any radical tactical change. The third-set collapse coincided with Terzić’s absence, and the fourth-set recovery showed the players’ ability to manage the game without their head coach. The result underlines how factors such as coaching health and bench leadership remain invisible in traditional box scores but can shape a match more than many tactical decisions. Serbia took the bronze, while the gold-medal match saw Melissa Vargas and Paola Egonu both score 28 points in another duel of elite opposite hitters.