Serbia take bronze: Boskovic scores 29, Stysiak scores 28, and the moment Terzic briefly left the bench

The bronze medal match of this year's elite women's volleyball tournament was defined by the duel between two opposite hitters. Serbia's Tijana Boskovic scored 29 points, while Poland's Magdalena Stysiak finished with 28. The one-point gap felt razor-thin. But the match also contained a moment that does not appear in the scoring column. When Serbia head coach Zoran Terzic briefly left the bench because of a health issue, Serbia lost control of the third set and fell 15-25. They recovered to win the fourth set 25-18 and took the match 3-1. Poland, despite Stysiak's outstanding output, left the court without a medal. The raw scoring data tells a clear story. Serbia had Boskovic's 29, but also Aleksandra Uzelac's 15, Vanja Kurtagic's 12 and Jovana Tica's 12. The secondary scorers combined for 39 points. Poland, by contrast, had a box score strongly tilted toward Stysiak. She produced 28 points, but the rest of the team did not provide the same visible support. Serbia's third-set collapse came after Terzic's temporary exit. They lost that set 15-25, only to respond with a 25-18 win in the fourth. The finalists also offered a useful comparison: in the gold medal match, Melissa Vargas of Turkiye and Paola Egonu of Italy each scored 28 points. The pattern is clear. Modern women's volleyball revolves around elite opposites, but the teams that win medals are usually the ones with depth around their star. Serbia showed exactly that. They have Boskovic, but they also had Uzelac, Kurtagic and Tica stepping up. Poland, meanwhile, faces a serious question about reliance on Stysiak. She can score 28 points, but who scores when the opponent's block focuses on her? The available data only covers raw scoring totals and set scores. There is no attack efficiency, no blocking success rate and no reception data. So it would be premature to make sweeping tactical claims. Still, the scoring pattern is enough to draw one likely conclusion: Serbia should not be described as a one-player team, while Poland should be concerned about how much of their offense depends on one player. Serbia weathered a difficult emotional moment and regained control. Poland left with a heavy question that may follow them into the next major tournament.