Russia moves to 2-0 by defeating Dominican Republic at the London Olympics – Volleyball News
In front of more than 14,000 spectators at the Earls Court in London, Russia put up a nice show of volleyball and held off Dominican Republic for 3-1 (25-23, 25-15, 24-26, 25-22) victory. The match took place on Monday, July 30.
It was the second appearance for Russian and Dominican Republic teams at the 2012 London Olympic Women’s Volleyball Tournament, where one side was pumped and other was dumped. Victory moved Russia to an overall record of 2-0 in the competition, while Dominican Republic shifted to 0-2.
Veteran Ekaterina Gamova tallied team-high 22 points and played a vital role in Russia’s success. She was followed by Nataliya Gonchareva with 14 points. Maria Borisenko and Maria Perepelkina enjoyed a great form during the match and ended with 9 and 12 points, respectively.
Dominican Republic dropped the decision, but it had the top-scorer of the match in the form of Bethania De la Cruz. She led her side with match-high 26 points. Candida Arias and Milagros Cabral also finished with double-figure score of 17 and 16, respectively.
The match started out with a balanced action from both sides. Ekaterina Gamova helped Russia a couple of early points, while Dominican Republic used Bethania De la Cruz to respond to Russian strike. The score shifted up with close gaps and situation remained undecided until the set points. Finally, Russia got a perfect kill to end the opening affair with small margin of two points (25-23).
Second set also came successful for Russia as Dominican Republic played under pressure and dropped too many easy shots. Russia locked the opposite side at a low score of 15 and seized second-set win.
Third set turned out to be a heated competition. Raged-up Dominican Republic squad hit the ball in gaps and managed to find its feet with third-set win (26-24). However, Russia worked its position up in fourth frame and launched power on the opponents. Dominicans lost fourth set at 25-22 and suffered loss in the match.
Russian mentor Sergey Ovchinnikov seemed satisfied with his team’s performance. He shared his views in the following manner: “We lost the third set because of our mistakes. It was really good during the fourth set because we could unite ourselves and win the game. It was our lack of concentration during the third set and we didn't make several attacks, that's why we lost. Dominican Republic played a good game.”
His counterpart Marcos Kwiek stated: “We played a good game against a very difficult team. They have good block and attack. We had good moments in the game, and we improved on the game against Italy. We have three very important games coming up.”
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