MATCH INFO
Russia end first round with first win over Japan
Japan's Mari Horikawa tries to attack through the Russia block of Yana Manzyuk and Ekaterina Lavrova.
Lima, Peru, July 24, 2011 - The final first round match of the FIVB Volleyball Women´s Junior World Championship Peru 2011 ended with the first Russian victory - a 25-23, 25-22, 25-19 score over Japan in Lima. Both teams were seeking their first victory of the tournament in the third match of the first round and gain momentum into the second round 9-16 classification.
The top scorer for Russia was Natalia Malykh with 12 points and teammates Yana Manzyuk and Valeriya Safonova with 11 points each. For Japan, the top scorer was Azusa Futami with 12 points, next to Mirei Sasaki with 11 points. Russia held a commanding 23-3 block advantage over their smaller opponent as Safonova compiled seven blocks and six different Russians had at least one block.
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In the first set, both teams were too imprecise. Russia had bad receptions during the first six points. They showed too much distraction. Also, the Japanese player Sumiko Mori had bad receptions. Russia got the 8-7 lead in the first technical time out. However, Russia could stop the attacks from the best Japanese player Mari Horikawa (four points in the set). Seeing this, Japan had substitutions and they turned out well. Russia reached 16-15 in the second technical time out. In the second term of the set, Russia received very good blocking and attack. At the end, the set defined 25-23 with a great block from Ekaterina Lavrova (two points in the game).
In the second set, Japan showed a very discreet game. Russia went to the first technical time out winning 8-4. The Russians lost the ball when a bad block from Natalia Malykh (three points in the set) happened. The second technical time out came with a Malykh block for an insurance point for Russia. Japan recovered their game and was blocking very well in several occasions. Although they exhibited good reaction, Russia was able to neutralize them with an extremely good barrier. Japan lost the set with a mistake on the serve and Russia won 25-22 in 26 minutes.
In the third set, Japan took advantage for first time in the whole match. Even with some mistakes on the serve, they reached the first technical time out with a difference of two points. They defended, blocked, attacked in a very proper way. However, with a Safanova’s block (six points in the set, Russia tied Japan 13-13. At the end, the Russians beat Japan and they won three straight sets in just 21 minutes.
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