Rio 2016: Serbia stun USA, China into final
China and Serbia will meet for the gold medal in women's volleyball at the Rio Olympics.
A first defeat for the United States' women's volleyball team at Rio 2016 proved costly as they missed out on a place in Saturday's final with a 3-2 loss to Serbia.
USA went into the semi-final match on the back of six straight wins, but were unable to close out a seventh after being three points from victory in the decisive fifth set.
Poor serving in the final stages saw Serbia take the final set by two points, completing a 20-25 25-17 25-21 16-25 15-13 victory when Kelsey Robinson put the ball out.
"What I can say after this game is this is a historic moment for me and for Serbian volleyball and everybody in Serbia for the first Olympic [volleyball] medal in our history," Serbia coach Zoran Terzic said.
"Of course in this moment we are very happy and very proud especially because we played today against maybe the best team in the world at this moment."
USA will be rueing the missed chance to challenge for gold, with two-time defending champions Brazil - who beat them in each of the past two finals - already eliminated.
Awaiting Serbia in the decider are China, who beat Brazil in the quarter-finals, after the 2004 gold medallists overcame Netherlands 3-1.
A tight contest eventually went the way of China, who claimed a 27-25 23-25 29-27 25-23 victory.