Russia sweeps Algeria in straight sets to take top position in Pool A – Volleyball News
Russia women’s national volleyball team successfully moved to 3-0 in the Olympic Tournament after scoring a splendid win over Algeria in third match on Wednesday, August 1.
The match took place at the Earls Court in Central London, while Russia stamped 3-0 (25-7, 25-14, 25-15) win over Algeria. Russians totally dominated the scene and did not allow a single Algerian player to go into double digits during the match. Victory enabled Russia to hold the top spot in Pool A of the tournament.
Three Russian players claimed double-figure score and led their team to victory. Liubov Shashkova emerged as the top scorer of the match with 12 points, while Maria Perepelkina and Nataliya Goncharova added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
On Algerian side, Safia Boukhima was the top-scorer with only 6 points.
Russia opened the match with an early onslaught of spikes and aces, which flabbergasted the Algerian players. Weak defence caused trouble for Algeria and they gave out too many points to Russia. With the help of strong offence, Russia quickly stretched out the gap of points and seized first-set win in only 17 minutes. Algeria ended the first set with seven points.
Carrying the same momentum, Russia made a strong opening in the second set. However, the Algerians learned from their mistakes and played comparatively better in second frame. They put some resistance and also attempts good attacks. Algeria scored better in second set, but still could not manage to avoid the loss. Russia improved to 2-0 by winning second set in row.
Third set had a sort of symmetry with the previous set. Algerian team scored 15 points, while Russia hit the finish line. The match ended in 63 minutes and awarded Russia with victory.
Russian middle blocker (MB) Maria Perepelkina opined about the match in the following manner: “During training we have tougher games than the one today. Regarding our matches thus far, the game with Dominican Republic was not simple, but today was especially easy. I think I was not always good at blocking today. It was bad for me.”
“Against Russia, it's just impossible. They are much higher than us. It's not only the height, but they are much stronger in defence and attack. We should have done better. We really have difficulties to attack. We had some problems with reception,” said Lydia Oulmou, the Captain of Algeria.
Next up Russia will meet Japan on Friday. Algeria, on the other hand, will be challenged by Italy in the upcoming match. Check back for more updates and news from the Earls Court, London.
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