2018 FIVB MEN’S VOLLEYBALL NATIONS LEAGUE – WEEK 2/POOL 5
- June 1st-June 3rd, 2018
- Arena Armeec, Sofia, Bulgaria (seating 12,373)
- Time Zone: GMT +3 (US Eastern Time +7)
- World Rankings: #4 Russia, #11 Serbia, #14 Bulgaria, #16 Australia
- Preview
- Schedule/Results
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jun | 17:00 | Australia  |
1–3 |  Russia |
18–25 | 19–25 | 25–18 | 22–25 | 84–93 | P2 P3 | |
| 1 Jun | 20:00 | Bulgaria  |
2–3 |  Serbia |
17–25 | 25–23 | 25–23 | 21–25 | 14–16 | 102–112 |
Russia def. Australia 3-1
- Russia defeated Australia 25-18, 25-19, 18-25, 25-22
- Russia moved to 3-1 (9 points); Australia moved to 0-4 (0 points)
Russia took advantage of 36 Australian errors and boasted an 11-4 lead in blocks in a four-set win on Friday.
Those two factors helped the Russians overcome a deficit in kills (48-39) and aces (7-3). Russia gave away 27 points on errors.
Egor Kliuka paced the Russian attack with 17 points on 14 kills, two blocks and an ace. Dmitriy Muserskiy followed with 11 points on eight kills (on just nine swings), two blocks and an ace. Ilia Vlasov and Igor Philippov manned the net with four and three blocks to frustrate the Aussie hitters.
Lincoln Williams still managed 22 points to lead all scorers, posting 17 kills and a team-best five aces for Australia. Jordan Richards and Paul Sanderson chipped in 13 and nine points respectively, turning in 11 and nine kills. Trent O’dea added six points, all on kills.
After falling in the first two sets, Australia found its footing in Set 3. Russia led 8-7 at the first technical timeout, but Richards and Williams took control for the Aussies and grabbed a 25-18 win.
Down 8-2 in Set 4, Russia snapped out of its lapse, scoring eight of the next 11 points to draw within one at 11-10. From there, the Russians returned went on to victory.
Serbia def. Bulgaria 3-2
- Serbia defeated Bulgaria 25-17, 23-25, 23-25, 25-21, 16-14
- Serbia moved to 2-2 (5 points); Bulgaria moved to 2-2 (6 points)
Forty Bulgarian errors helped fuel Serbia in a five-set comeback victory.
The nine-point differential in points off errors (40-31) offset a 54-49 Bulgarian edge in kills. Serbia also boasted a slight 9-8 advantage in aces.
Drazen Luburic notched 20 points to lead four Serbian players with double-digit scoring tallies. Srecko Lisinac (14), Petar Krsmanovic (12) and Marko Ivovic (10) rounded out the group. Uros Kovacevic chipped in nine points to round out a balanced Serbian attack. Luburic was dominant on offense with a match-high 17 kills to go with three aces. The rest of the group posted seven or more putaways: Lisinac (9), Ivovic (8), Krsmanovic (7) and Kovacevic (7). Lisinac was the team’s top blocker with five. Krsmanovic served up three aces and added two blocks.
Five Bulgarian players reached double digits in scoring led by Todor Skrimov‘s 20 on 17 kills and three aces. Nikolay Uchikov was next with 18 points on 16 kills and two blocks. Valentin Bratoev notched 10 kills, while Svetoslav Gotsev and Viktor Yosifov turned in all around efforts. Gotsev posted a team-high five blocks, four kills and two aces, while Yosifov managed five kills, three blocks and two aces.
Bulgaria suffered an epic collapse in Set 5, leading 10-5 and earning two match-point tries before falling 16-14 on a Krsmanovic ace.
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