Russia sweeps Germany in a FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix match
One of the matches in the second weekend of the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix saw the Russians play against the Germans on the 12th August.
The Pool G match between the two sides was taking place in Quanzhou, China. As the game reached its close, the Germans found themselves swept away by the Russian squad.
The Germans could not put up an appropriate challenge against the world champions as the first and the second sets were won by the Russians by comfortable margins. It was only in the third set that the Germans stepped up their game but the effort came in
too late as the Russians were playing impressive volleyball spurred on by the confidence generated at winning the first two sets. Therefore, the third set became the last one as the Russians won the match at the following final set scores: 25-18, 25-19 and
25-21.
Vladimir Kuzyutkin, the Russian coach, gave the following statements at the press conference that was conducted after the match had ended, “It is natural that a team could lag behind when the opponents made adjustments. I let the players calm down and make
adjustments by themselves, which turned to be useful.”
Whereas the German coach, Giovanni Guidetti expressed himself in the following words, “Russia did very well in blocking and attacks, so it was difficult for Germany to defend. And Germany’s attacks were poor today.”
The Russians were able to get the lead early on in the opening set before the Germans could gain much headway; the Russians were able to extend their advantage by a comfortable margin. Eventually the Germans were able to close in the gap but the superior
attacking skills of the Russians were too much to cater too for Germany. Therefore, the Germans were left behind as the Russians moved ahead towards a win at 25-18.
The second set unrolled in much the same way as its predecessor. The Russian attack was strong while the German defence was not doing a good job to keep the score level that resulted in a Russian lead. At one point the Germans were close enough to swing
the match in their favour but the Russians quashed all German hopes as it went in for the kill and won the set at 25-19.
Germany decided to change the line up of players in the third set in order to rejuvenate their side and they were successful in getting a 4-0 lead. However, the Russians did not let the Germans get away with the advantage and turned the game back in their
favour and sealed the deal on the set at 25-21.
Next in line for the Russian side is a match with the Peruvians while the Germans will be facing the Chinese host team.
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