Russia beats Serbia in opening match of 2012 FIVB World League – Volleyball News
Men’s national volleyball team of Russia made a perfect start to the 2012 FIVB World League by edging out Serbia in the first match of the tournament.
The match took place at Hamamatsu Arena in Hamamatsu, Japan on Friday, May 18. Russia displayed a better performance against Serbia and claimed 3-2 (25-21, 25-22, 19-25, 20-25, 15-9) victory. The thrilling encounter was witnessed by around 800 spectators.
Russian victory was mainly credited to scoring machine Yury Berezhko, who was highly effective on attack. He contributed match-high 23 points, which included 21 spikes and 2 blocks. On Serbia’s side, Aleksandar Atanasijevic led the scorers with team-high
16 points.
The first whistle of the referee started things off in the match and Russia promptly went up on the scoreboard. Serbs suffered the set-backs in the early few minutes and trailed behind. Meanwhile, Russia took full advantage of the situation and added a flurry
of points. With better attack and defence, Russians clawed their way to first-set win at 25-21.
After losing the first set, Serbia hit back aggressively and threw everything in attack. Serbia picked up lead and tried to quickly stretch the gap of points. However, Russia showed remarkably consistency and managed to chase the score. The two teams exchanged
long rallies and eventually Russia clinched success with three-point advantage, 25-22.
Loss of two sets in row totally flabbergasted the Serbian team. Serbs were in dire need of a comeback. They put up a spirited effort and proved their endeavours in the third set. They seized third-set (25-19) and managed to come out of the blues. They remained
on the same course and created the dead-lock of 2-2 by winning fourth set (25-20).
It was an interesting predicament in the fifth set of the match when both sides seemed under a lot of pressure. In the final test of skills and temperament, Russia became survived and achieved match points (15-9).
“I think there were two sides to this match. In the first two sets, we had a very strong serve, good attention to digging and reception. In the third and fourth sets Serbia tried some substitutions, and played very good as a result. But it was very good
for us to win this match. Every match is important. This is great preparation for the Olympic Games,” revealed the Russian mentor Sergio Busato after the match.
His Serbian counterpart Igor Kolakovic also praised the great effort of Russian players and congratulated them for victory in the first match. In his view, Serbia did not make an appropriate opening in the match which created an opportunity for opponents
to take the control of the operations.
He stated, “Later in the game we played better, especially in the third and fourth sets. In the fifth set we started out 0-5, and of course if Russia has five-point lead, its impossible to play them.”
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