Russia wins FIVB World League title a second time – Volleyball News
After seven weeks of great volleyball, the 2011 FIVB World League finally came to an end this past weekend with Russia walking away as champions for the second time.
The Final showdown of the 2011 FIVB World League was held on Sunday, July 10 in the city of Gdansk, Poland. The Russians had an intense match with the defending champions, Brazil, as the match continued for five tiring sets. Russia claimed the title by posting
a 3-2 (23-25, 27-25, 25-23, 22-25, and 15-11) win over archrival Brazil.
The match started out with both teams in an attacking mood. Defending champions Brazil hit the spot with a 2-point lead at the first technical timeout, while Russia was still looking for their moment. Brazilian Murilo and Giba formed a good combination and
put away some nice shots. As a result, the difference of points further stretched out and Russia trailed behind with a margin of four points. The Russians finally hit back and levelled the score at 15-all. Nonetheless, Brazil proved to be too quick and claimed
a first set victory of 25-23.
The second set was also a close affair. The stress kept players from both teams on their toes as Russia jumped to a 10-7 lead at the FTT. Maxim Mikhaylov made good use of his hands and put his team ahead but the Brazilians created a tie at 19-19. Russians
once again came back strong and picked up the lead and got a perfect kill near the set point and claimed second set, 27-25.
The third set brought some good luck for the Russians and they held off Brazil for another 2-point win at 25-23. Brazil came quick to tie the game score in the fourth set and created a dead lock of 2-2 after they won the fourth set by sending 25-22 on the
board.
15-point golden set saw an early tie of 2-2 but soon Russia went up to 7-5. Brazil suffered a minor setback at this pint and could not return in the game. Russian kept on moving at great pace and put an end to the tussle in 16 minutes.
Russian top-gun Maxim Mikhaylov was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the match. He put up a great effort for his team and remained the top-scorer of the match after he clipped 26 points with his convincing attack attempts. Middle Blocker, Dmitriy
Muserskiy, Alexander Volkov and Captain Taras Khtei equally deserved the appreciation and credit for the Russian win.
On the other hand, Brazilian skipper Giba registered 16 points, while Murilo added 12 points. Brazilian libero Sergio did an amazing job at receiving difficult shots from the opponents. Brazil’s efforts were commendable as they remained hand in hand with
Russian throughout the match.
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