U.S. beats Serbia to win 1st World League volleyball title

William Priddy scored 21 points to lead the Americans at Maracanazinho stadium in Rio de Janeiro, with Clayton Stanley adding 16.

The U.S., coming off a third-place finish in last year’s competition, had upset five-time defending champion Brazil in five sets in the semifinals on Saturday. Serbia, which got 28 points from Ivan Miljkovic on Sunday, had reached the final by defeating Russia.

The Russians finished third by defeating hosts Brazil 25-23, 25-19, 23-25, 25-19 earlier Sunday. It was the first time since 1998 that Brazil, also the defending Olympic and World Cup champion, finished outside the top three in the World League. The last time Brazil failed to win the title was in 2002, when it finished second to Russia.

Eight-time champion Italy is the winningest nation in the World League since the tournament debuted in 1990. Brazil has seven titles, and the Netherlands, Russia, Cuba and the U.S. have one each.

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