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Press Info - Match Description

Russia down Serbia

Russia's Natalia Alimova winds up

Beijing, China, August 17, 2008 -- Russia advanced to the Women's Volleyball quarter-finals after an easy win over Serbia 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-20) at Capital Gymnasium. The victory ensured Russia's third place in Pool B, meaning they will not clash with Cuba in the next round of competition. Serbia kicked off the first set laden with the same technical errors that saw them lose to Italy in straight sets on Friday. Serbia's weak defence was hindered further by a three-man block that was ineffective as their Russian counterparts towered over them at the net. But Serbia made up for the lack of height and accuracy with, as libero Suzana Cebic and Jovana Vesovic synchronised to save unreachable sideline attacks, closing the gap, but still losing the set. Outside hitter Ekaterina Gamova and Liubov "Sokolova" Shashkova formed the driving force behind Russia's offense, with the 2.02-metre tall Gamova topping the scoreboard in the first set with seven points. The second set saw Serbia fail to make the necessary player adjustments and Russia forged ahead to take the set 25-16. As the match closed in on Serbia, coach Zoran Terzic subsituted for Sanja Malagurski in an attempt to revive an attack, with little impact. Serbia's Jovana Brakocevic was the top scorer of the match, converting 16 of 43 attacking attempts. Serbia have emerged from the Pool B preliminaries in fourth place, and face Cuba in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, August 19.