Volleyball Update: Russian Women’s Team enjoyed the top form in Edison Challenge Cup (Part 1)
The Edison Challenge Volleyball Cup had an amazing run from 15-17 October, 2010 at Alassio, Italy. The sensational women’s volleyball campaign invited teams from Croatia, Serbia, Italy and Russia. The 3-day Edison Challenger Cup served as the preparation
for the FIVB Women’s World Championship, which is scheduled to hit the town on 29th October, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan. Once again, it will put the teams’ abilities to a test. So everyone is getting ready for the big clash. The Edison Cup in Alasso was
also held to prepare the teams for the fight.
Russian team confirmed its ambition to catch the top-spot in FIVB World Championship by displaying incredible play at Alasso, Italy. The team collided with three competitor sides and overpowered them. They defeated Serbs, hosts Italians and team from Croatia
respectively.
Russia vs. Serbia 3-1 (21-25, 25-21, 25-21, and 25-16)
Russians opened the championship by taking on Serbia on 15th October, 2010. The Serbs stunned the Russian side with a stellar performance in the first set of the match. They served really well and created a lot buzz by producing commanding spikes.
Russia spent a little time to grasp the game-plan but Serbia was quick to cover the length of first set. They ousted Russia with a win of 25-21 in opening set.
The fired-up Russia made a great come back in the second set. They took the control of operations and dismantled Serbian power. The protagonists were back in the game and they returned the same 25-21 score to Serbia. After winning the second set, Russia
didn’t stop throwing ball in opponents’ court. They spotted the vulnerable areas and hit the ball on target. Third set also came successful for Russia and put the team in a great form. Russia finished the third set at 25-21.
Afterwards, they remained consistent in hard-hitting the ball and heavily influenced the opposite side. Serbia couldn’t put up the adversity of attack by Russia and accepted defeat at 25-16 in the final set of the game. Russia bagged the early victory in
the Edison Challenger Cup.
Russia vs. Italy 3-2 (23-25, 25-15, 14-25, 25-22, and 19-17)
In the second match, hosts Italy challenged Russia. The home-side was equipped with experienced players and emotional support of local fans. The Italian team gave a hard time to Russian players but still they found the way to success after a five-set thriller.
The first set of the match was quite a bruising battle as both sides attacked each other with a variety of spikes and aces. The pumped-up home side showed incredible effort and edged Russian team after a close fight at 25-23. Somehow, they couldn’t keep
the same run in following set and lost momentum. Russia sparkled on the scene and dominated Italian hotshots. Russia levelled the game-score by capturing second set at 25-15.
The loss of second set created an anger wave in Italian lines. The home team threw everything in attack to get back their pride. The uproar of local supporters enticed them to take revenge of the loss. Italians started the heavy strike and restricted Russia’s
score to a low stake. The Italian attack was very strong and it didn’t allow Russians to recover from the shock. They picked up lead over Russia and maintained it till the finish line. Russia couldn’t avoid the chances of defeat in third set and collapsed
at 14-25.
The suspense and uncertainty prevailed on the whole scene, while the fans were on the top of their heels. The fourth set started with an exchange of powerful serves from both sides. Italy wanted to put an end by winning the fourth set but Russia was all
up to extend it to another set.
Continued …..
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