The men's European volleyball championship in the 2019 season is slightly lost compared to other tournaments that are held for the national teams. There are no powerful rivals from other parts of the world, who were in the League of Nations and will be at the World Cup. Olympic tickets are not played out either - separate competitions were dedicated to them. But the continental championship still remains prestigious, especially for the Russian team, which will have to defend the championship title.
The current tournament, like the recent women's one, gathered 24 teams in Slovenia, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, which first determine the playoffs in five rounds of the group stage and then play the elimination games until the decisive matches to be held in Paris. The Russian team fell to go to Ljubljana and play with the owners of their group, as well as the teams of Turkey, Finland, Northern Macedonia and Belarus.
It is worth noting that the wards of Tuomas Sammelvuo this time refused to hold friendly matches. Firstly, the level of rivals allowed to start at the European Championship in unloading mode. Secondly, this year the Russian team already had enough matches. Thirdly, the composition of the team has not undergone such significant changes that it had to be run in the game mode. The opportunity to debut in the national team was given to the libero Evgeny Andreev, who performed well in the club season, but dropped out for a long time due to an injury, and player Karpukhov replenished the representative office in the national team of the champion Kuzbass. The remaining stars, such as Dmitry Musersky, Maxim Mikhailov, Dmitry Volkov and Alexander Butko, have long been living from start to start.
The Russian team held the first match against Turkey. The mood was set by Volkov, whose supply brought seven points in a row, and he himself made three aces during this time. The current set won the current champions with almost a double margin. In the second, Ivan Yakovlev showed miracles on the pitch, but it was impossible to hope for a long time for an unimportant reception from the opponent.
The Turks nevertheless got accustomed and began to respond with attacks, so much so that in the end of the set they evened the score. The Russians, on the other hand, made many mistakes in the attack by Mikhailov, and no one came to replace him. Turkey unexpectedly won the second set with a minimal margin. Sammelvuo did not change the composition, giving players the opportunity to rehabilitate themselves for a local failure. Volleyball players of their coach understood and did not allow more serious recessions, but Butko's exit only accelerated the achievement of the first victory in the tournament - 3: 1 (25:13, 23:25, 25:17, 25:15).
Before the meeting with Belarus, the composition still changed, and he had to go the same way as the previous one. Viktor Poletaev with Anton Syomyshev, Dmitry Musersky and Alexander Butko did not immediately manage to play. For almost the entire first set, the Russians could not take points on their serve, gradually letting Belarusians go forward. It was not possible to catch up with an opponent tearing into the League of Nations.
But Poletaev and Syomyshev got used to the next game enough to still leave the ending for themselves in an equal fight. Only the number of mistakes scared - in two sets they accumulated as many as 23. But then the Russians managed to establish a pitch, and in addition the Belarusians themselves were so glued up that they hooked only ten points in the fourth game - 3: 1 (23:25, 25:17, 25: 22, 25:10).
In the third round, the Russian team played for the first time with Northern Macedonia, and this match hardly gave any reason to think that this team will be able to meet again in the playoffs. In the Balkans, there was only one player above two meters, and with the attacks of Volkov and Mikhailov, as well as with the Volvich block, they could not do anything for a long time. The first two sets were won with a confident nine-ten point difference.
But it’s already familiar in this tournament, in one game the Russian team still had problems. More precisely, the Macedonians played great, who minimized the number of mistakes and began to chase rivals on the heels. Through the efforts of Ilyas Kurkayev, the Russians did not sag in the long run and reached the climax of the set on an equal footing. The two teams have long decided who will win this game, but the Russians still squeezed the Balkans - 3: 0 (25:15, 25:16, 30:28).
When the set is tied, but @RusVolleyTeam 🇷🇺 put the end to the discussion and grab the win at 3-0.
More details on the match vs #NorthMacedonia here 👇https: //t.co/iARHkiVFi4pic.twitter.com/ehzy1gbGTV
In the next match, Sammelvuo was to withdraw the Russians against Finland’s home team, which was knocked out of a number of previous rivals. Still, the Suomi team regularly participated in the European Championships before the expansion, and was the ninth at the World Cup five years ago, when it was led by the current head coach of the Russian national team. True, this year the Finns are no longer so impressive. By the fourth round, they beat only the Macedonians, and while the Russians had a day off, they held a heavy five-set match with Belarus, in which they could not snatch a victory.
Sammelvuo conducted the next rotation of the composition, having decided to test together Volkov and Poletaev. In the first set, they really appeared as an ideal duet for a set of points. But in the second, their effectiveness decreased, and at the same time, in the fight for the ball, Volkov ran into Kurkaev. The blocker twisted his arm and went straight from the platform to the hospital. For a half set he managed to score five points and finally began to enjoy the confidence of Sammelvuo, but an unsuccessful clash interrupted his performance at the tournament. Wolvich tried to replace the partner and did everything necessary to recoup in the second set and win it. In the third installment, the Finns tried to impose a struggle, but at the right moment, Yegor Kluki's serve brought the Russian team a fourth victory and the opportunity to argue with Slovenia for a very important first place in the group - 3-0 (25:17, 26:24, 25:22).
Before the game with the owners of the group, it became known that Kurkaev had a breakdown in his ligaments and he would not play in the tournament anymore. During the World Cup, Igor Filippov, already verified in the League of Nations, will join the team. Like the women's team a few weeks earlier, the Russians will have to continue the tournament with three central blockers.
However, the match with Slovenia showed that everything is not so scary. Covering the opponent’s shots was possible not only to those who are obliged to do this, but also to the rest of the players - seven Russian volleyball players put successful blocks in this game. The rivals for the entire match gained only three successful attempts at all.
Confident game in the match against the Slovenes showed Poletaev. Five times he scored points on the pitch, which helped to make the necessary backlog in the first and second sets. In total, the diagonal chalked up 13 points. For himself, this is not so much, but the match lasted the minimum possible three sets, and Poletaev simply did not have time to show more decent statistics. Having won two games, the Russian team secured first place in the group, as Slovenes unexpectedly lost to Northern Macedonia in the 4th round. The team of Sammelvuo did not delay the match and calmly reduced to victory the third set - 3: 0 (25:21, 25:21, 25:21).
Super rally from the #MatchOfTheDay 🇸🇮🆚🇷🇺! With #EuroVolleyM there is no moment of respite from top #volleyball actions! # WeAreEuroVolley @ SloVolley @ volleyballvfvpic.twitter.com / SPcAIkfe5g
- CEVolleyball (@CEVolleyball) September 18, 2019The playoffs for the Russian team will begin with a match with Greece, which won only one match in the group stage. And if successful, the Sammelvuo squad in the quarterfinals will either be opposed again by the Slovenian team or the Bulgarian team. The victorious series of Russians, taking into account the League of Nations and the qualifying tournament for the Olympics, has already lasted ten games, and it has to be extended for another four games in order to win the European Championship and defend the title won two years ago.