USA celebrate their 3-1 victory over Russia in Pool B of the FIVB Volleyball World League
Long Beach, USA, June 5, 2015 – USA prevailed 3-1 (25-18, 24-26, 25-15, 28-26) in their match against Russia to claim leadership in Pool B of the FIVB Volleyball World League at the Walter Pyramid on Friday.
Murphy Troy topcored with 16 points, while team-mates Matthew Anderson and Maxwell Holt scored 15 points apiece for the United States. Pavel Moroz led the Russian scorers with 14 points.
USA led 8-7 and 16-12 in the technical breaks, respectively. USA somehow slowed down as Savin scored an ace to pull Russia to within three points at 20-17. USA coach John Speraw’s timeout resulted to a service error from Russia and a service ace from his player Troy, until Anderson scored on another ace and a Holt one-handed block sealed their first set victory 25-18.
USA and Russia were deadlocked at 4-all until Alexey Spiridonov and Moroz gave Russia the lead with two straight points. Russia led in the first technical timeout 8-7 but the momentum shifted when USA called a challenge that favoured them at 10-8. Russia bounced back at 16-all and a series of lead changes followed. USA held set point at 24-23 but Russia scored on an attack by Dimitriy Illinykh, an ace from Moroz, and a USA error settled the second set 26-24 victory for the visiting side.
USA had a 4-0 run to once again gain advantage 8-3 in the third set. The United States kept their lead throughout the set as David Lee came in to serve the final five points of the third set in their favour 25-15.
Russia gained a slim 8-7 advantage in the fourth set but the USA wiped out and stole the lead at 16-13. Russia bounced back to tie the score at 19-all, with USA reaching match point first 24-23 but was soon erased by Spiridonov on his attack from the left flank. Russia suddenly shifted the momentum to their side as Illinykh unleashed a strong backrow swing for a Russian set point 25-24.
Russia then lost a challenge that brought the score tied at 25-all but they regained set point as Holt’s serve went to the net. Russia served the ball out of bounds for another deadlock until USA’s Anderson scored on an attack and a double block on Russia sealed victory for the home team 28-26.
To see the match gallery, read the full match live commentary and post-match comments, visit the match page.