Russia joins the Olympic semis after defeating Poland – Volleyball News
Russian men’s Olympic volleyball team clinched success in the quarterfinals against Poland at the Earls Court on Wednesday, 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-21).
Poles wanted to play in the final showdown of the Olympic competition, but Russia proved to be a detractor and led them to elimination. Russians took full advantage of their better physique and overpowered Poles in straight sets.
Maxim Mikhaylov paced Russia with team-high 13 points, which included ten spikes, 1 block, and two serve-aces. Dmitriy Muserskiy followed him up with 12 points and contributed to the overall success of his team.
Zbigniew Bartman put up a great struggle for Poland and charted match-high 14 points. However, his efforts went futile as the team could not win the match.
In the first set of the match, Russia showed power and picked up an early lead. Poland lagged behind with five points and used different combinations to stop the Russians. Nonetheless, the team coached by Vladimir Alekno did not slow down and continued with success. Russian hitters showed no mercy and quickly stretched out the gap of points. Poland ended with 17 points, while Russia secured first frame of the match.
Poles started out well in the following set and used convincing attacks from Bartman. He hit with power and managed to land his shots in the Russian half. The Polish fans backed-up their team by making huge noise. Poland seemed to have its lost form back, but soon Russia bounced back in the game. Mikhaylov devastated Poland’s defence line with back-to-back attacks and led his team second-set win with two points.
Third set was also dominated by Russia. Polish team was dragged under tons of pressure and could not perform well. Russia benefitted from the nervousness of opponents and brought more ferocity in attack. Poles struggled to catch up with the rival side, but failed to do so. Russia captured third set in a row and declared match victory.
Winning coach Vladimir Alekno of Russia said: "The quarterfinal is always the most difficult game. Either you continue, or you are knocked out from the competition. There was a certain psychological pressure on my players and I cannot say that we totally coped with it. Poland have shown fantastic volleyball at the group stage, especially in the game against Italy. We are glad to overcome these opponents because they played so well in this year's World League and in other competitions. They were always really tough opponents for us."
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