MATCH INFO

Kumamoto, Japan, November 24, 2011 - After a perfect first round with three wins in as many matches, Russia was handed their first loss in 2011 FIVB Men's World Cup play by Brazil in a matchup of the two top-ranked teams, 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-22).

Leading the Brazilians on the day was Murilo Endres with 12 points. He was supported by his captain Gilberto Godoy Filho (Giba) with 10 points and Leandro Vissotto Neves with nine points. The Russians were led by Sergey Tetyukhin, who had a good day from the service line with four aces among his 14 points. Maxim Mikhaylov, who has led the team in scoring so far in the tournament, was held to 10 points.

Brazil’s control was the deciding factor in this match, as Russia made twice as many errors in the match, 29, versus just 14 for Brazil.

Brazil came out ready to play against the powerful Russians with Marlon Muraguti Yared using some smarts up front catching the defense unaware with a tip to the open court to go ahead 6-3. Russia countered with Tetyukhin (and lots of him) as his ace brought Russia back within one, and he brought a flurry of attacks later to knot the set at 11-11. But a great block by Vissotto helped Brazil gain a three-point cushion again, which they would extend to 20-15 on a Russia service error. From there the Brazilians scored five unanswered to close 25-16.

The Russians started the second set a little better, with two consecutive blocks on Giba out wide by Mikhaylov and Alexander Butko back-to-back. The teams stayed tight until 9-9 when Vissotto threw in two spikes, and then an ace by Sidnei dos Santos Jr (aka Sidão) put Brazil up 14-11. Russia was erratic late with service errors from Mikhaylov, Tetyukhin, and Butko helping Brazil on their way to 21-16. From there consecutive blocks from Lucas Saatkamp on Taras Khtey and Giba on the powerful Mikhaylov clinched the second 25-19 for Brazil.

In the third, Tetyukhin came out firing, dropping a pair of aces to kick things off. But Brazil stuck with them as Lucas would eventually counter with his second ace of the match putting his side up 10-9. Soon after that Brazil put up a run of four straight that included an ace from Murilo and a devastating spike from Vissotto making it 15-11. Tetyukhin’s fourth ace cut the lead to two, but Brazil looked poised to take the match after a clever Murilo tip made it 21-18. Pavel Kruglov played well off the bench with three great attacks to help a comeback effort, but Russia were still plagued by errors late. Giba extinguished the Russian hopes on the final point, his spike taking the set 25-22 and the match 3-0.