Folded powers: Russian national volleyball team lost to Slovenia in the quarterfinals of the European Championship

Acceleration in the playoffs of the European Championships at the Russian national volleyball team was a sight for sore eyes. For 71 minutes, the wards of Tuomas Sammelvuo dealt with the Greeks in the 1/8 finals. Opponents did not even manage to earn more than 16 points in any of the sets. Faster ticket to the next round was obtained only by Poland, which dealt with the 2007 European champions by the Spaniards. That match was another three minutes shorter.

Then the Russians had to experience a sense of deja vu and play for the second time in six days with the Slovenian national team in Ljubljana. Some of the hosts of the tournament knocked Bulgaria out of the fight for medals, which, with each European Championship, falls lower and lower at once, and now for the first time did not make it into the top eight. Although the Slovenes spent four sets on the site, they did not spend much effort - after one game the Bulgarians did not particularly resist.

No matter how much Sammelvuo liked to shuffle the squad at this championship, but he called the same players who completed the group stage to a second meeting with Slovenia. Dmitry Musersky and Artyom Volvich on the block, Dmitry Volkov, Viktor Poletaev and Yegor Klyuka in the attack, Igor Kobzar and Valentin Golubev to help - they all had to once again be in the midst of the bustling arena “Stojice”, which was eager to host the next match in Slovenia, only already in the semifinals.

Arena Stozice # right now 🚀 pic.twitter.com/9gM8gvAQos

At first, the roar of more than ten thousand fans knocked down the mood of the Russians. The set began with three mistakes that immediately gave the Slovenes a good lead. Kluke had to rectify the situation, whose submission and, in particular, two aces made it possible to go forward by one point. But it was not possible to develop success, while Klemen Chebul and captain Tine Urnaut were enchanting at the site. When two innings for a departure from Mitya Gasparini were added to their attacks, the hosts again led.

Fast deceitful blow from Egor Kluki 💥
🇷🇺10-10🇸🇮 # Russia Slovenia pic.twitter.com / RAVzxSq6hm

In the second ace, Volkov was largely to blame, but he immediately returned the serve to the Russians, earning the first point. The main attacking force of the Russians in the middle of the first set remained Kluka, who made seven attempts against three of the rest of the team. Blockers acted just as modestly as the diagonal ones, protecting the grid much less often than was required by the situation. The Slovenes, brought to the limit, used these problems to keep an even score, and the next portion of the errors of Poletaev and Volkov gave them three setballs. The Russians won back two points, but after replacing Volvich with Maxim Mikhailov, no one stopped the blow of Alain Paenok. For the first time in history, the Russian team lost to Slovenia a set - in all four previous matches this did not happen.

Well done 😏
🇷🇺21-23🇸🇮 (0-1) # Russia Slovenia pic.twitter.com / jz55CCjc6t

The second batch started even worse than the first. After the mistake, Klyuki at the reception, the Russians lost already 1: 5, and Sammelvuo had to spend a timeout. Only after losing another rally, Poletaev took his serve and immediately threw a ball on it into the court. The won challenge and Musersky’s excellent block helped reduce the gap to a minimum. But then Urnaut again created a four-point lead. Sammelvuo did not dare to carry out replacements in the attack and only replaced Kobzar with Alexander Butko, although Volkov continued to serve the number.

Sammelvuo continued to believe in a player, and decided to refresh the team by replacing Musersky with Ivan Yakovlev - at that moment the Finnish mentor especially regretted that Ilyas Kurkaev was injured. But the main problems of the team remained not on the block, but in the attack. Sammelvuo spent two time-outs before the second break and even took one challenge to communicate with the team, but he did not find the right words. The lag was reduced to two points, but still annoyed by its consistency. No action was taken to change the game of the Russian team, and it was even quite symbolic that the second set ended after Volkov was sent to the net.

Ready to regain advantage 😤😤
🇷🇺0-2🇸🇮 (23:25, 22:25) #RussiaSloveniapic.twitter.com / jZJ1xCqJci

The composition for the third game, which could be the last for the current European champions, has not changed. But the long-awaited attack by Volkov helped to win four rallies in a row, and on his serve, the gap increased to six points. This did not become a limit for the Russians, and after the break the difference continued to grow to seven points.

Periodically, the Slovenes got closer, but the Russians did not seriously threaten the leadership, preferring to better prepare for the next game. Sammelvuo also went for permutations, but Volkov, who felt his pace, only wilted again when he returned to the site instead of Anton Semyshev. Nevertheless, the third set the Russian team still won with a score of 25:21.

We already know the first #EuroVolleyM semifinalist, but who will join Poland 🇵🇱 - Slovenia 🇸🇮 or Russia 🇷🇺? Who is your favorite? # WeAreEuroVolley @ SloVolley @ volleyballvfvpic.twitter.com / 9aT2JFkS7A

The fourth installment began with the murderous serve of Gasparini, which brought the Slovenes a two-point supply. Kluka also tried to prove himself in this component, but after receiving the hosts still successfully attacked. Volkov, who played well in the third set, again faded into the background and sometimes simply did not reach the goals of the partners. After the time-out of Sammelvuo in the middle of the set, the Slovenes advanced four points ahead - 12: 8 in their favor.

It was not possible to correct the situation due to a series of stupid mistakes that European champions simply should not have. Two touches of the grid almost in a row made the situation absolutely critical, when Slovenes needed only seven points to reach the semifinals, and all 13 for Russians to transfer to a tie-break.

Filing Kluki gave little hope, but touching Poletaev with his little finger on the block and serving out killed her. Not a single team in this match has won back at 21:24, and the fourth game was no exception. For the second time in a row, the Russian national team took off at the quarterfinal stage, trying to defend the title of champion of the continent, and could not make a victorious hat-trick this season after victories in the League of Nations and the Olympic qualifying tournament. Slovenes will continue to fight for medals and will play with Poland in the semifinals.

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