FIVB U21 Championships
- June 23-July 2, 2017
- Brno, Czech Republic
- Schedule/Results
Third Place Match
Russia 3, Brazil 0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-19)
Three-time defending champion Russia grabbed the bronze medal at the 2017 U21 Championships, topping Brazil via sweep in the third place match on Sunday.
Brazil finished fourth for the second straight time, following its effort in 2015.
“Today’s match was not too difficult because yesterday Brazil played a very long and hard match,” Russian coach Vladimir Khromenkov said. “Unfortunately, we did not fight for the gold medal, but the bronze is also very important to us and we are happy to have won it.”
A balanced offensive attack led Russia to a 25-16 Set 1 win. It was blocking and Brazilian miscues that aided the Russians in a 25-16 Set 2 victory. Another solid blocking performance, including Aleksandr Melnikov’s final stuff, gave Russia the 25-19 Set 3 win and the bronze medal.
Russia was better in every statistical category, winning offensively 39-34 in kills, at the net 12-3 in blocks and 3-2 from the service line. The Russians also limited their errors to 12, while capitalizing on 21 Brazilian miscues.
Aleksei Kononov led a group of four Russian players with double-digit scoring tallies. Kononov managed seven kills and a team-best six blocks for 13 points. Ivan Piskarev added 11 points, with a team-best 10 kills. Anton Semyshev and Dmitry Yakovlev chipped in 10 points apiece, including eight kills each. Yakovlev added two aces, while Semyshev managed two blocks.
Felipe Moreira Roque paced Brazil with 10 points, all on kills, while Pablo Natan Ventura chipped in nine points, with eight kills and an ace.
“We played eight matches and in seven we gave our maximum,” Brazilian coach Nery Pereira Tambeiro Junior said. “We are upset to have lost the medal.”
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