Britain secure maiden World Championship volleyball win

Posted: Sunday 4th January 2009 | 9:42

GREAT Britain claimed their first ever World Championship win with victory over Montenegro in the Sheffield.

Janine Sandell produced a stand-out show as Lorne Sawula's side won 26-24, 26-24, 21-25, 25-20 to boost their hopes of qualifying from group B to the next round.

"The most pleasing thing for me was the mental toughness my team showed," said British coach Lorne Sawula.

"You can see this team is still on a learning curve but they are reaping the benefit of the training and effort they have put in. It was a real team effort today and I now have some strength on the bench I can also turn to.

"I thought my setter Lucy Wicks had her best game for a while. She ran the speed of the offence well. We are not a power team and we knew Montenegro is a good blocking team, so the role of the setter was very important."

Elsewhere Portugal beat Israel, Great Britain's Sunday opponents, in three straight sets.

In the men's competition Belarus survived a scare to beat Israel in five sets. They face hosts Great Britain on Sunday knowing a win would secure their passage to the next round.