Russia thrash Belgium to vie for 14th European crown

Following a five-set showdown between Serbia and Germany, Belgium and Russia were next to play at TAURON Arena in the second semi-final of LOTTO EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017, thus fighting for a spot in the final and a chance to play for gold on Sunday. The game was much more lopsided than the first semi-final, as Belgium never really got a chance to fight for taking at least one set and Russia rallied to a comprehensive 3-0 victory (25-14, 25-17, 25-17) to keep an immaculate record with no sets lost in the tournament so far. On Sunday, Russia will play Germany at 20:30 CET in the gold medal match – where they will try to seize their 14th European crown (including those won by the former Soviet Union).

Russia took to the court red hot, their triple block providing them with a quick 4-0 lead. They kept rolling as Maxim Mikhailov’s blast from the service line moved the score to 8-2. The Belgian nightmare did not end there, even though they desperately fought back – their six-point deficit seemed insurmountable. The Belgians did not reduce their gap and when Mikhailov started serving again, the scoreboard showed a massive 20-9 in favour of the 2012 Olympic champions. Tomas Rousseaux ended the lopsided period with a service fault.

Dmitrii Volkov started the second set on fire, scoring four points, with his team racing ahead to a 5-3 lead. Belgium had to experience Russia’s high-calibre firearms but the Red Dragons managed to keep their deficit down to three until Rousseaux hit the net with his spike and Russia sailed ahead to 15-10. Volkov was all over it, for his ace propelled the Russians to a seven-point advantage at 17-10. The Belgians fought with everything they had but their opponents were just too good and Russia doubled their lead in the match (25-17). 

The Russian machine proved unstoppable also at the beginning of the third set, gaining momentum quickly and crushing Belgium to reach a commanding 8-2 lead at the first technical break. After that, the Belgians played with their heart and made it 7-10 but Russia kept control of the game and it looked like they would not let their opponent come any closer. The team of coach Vital Heynen started to miss one attack after the other. Volkov scored even more points with his blocks and spikes to pave the Russian way towards a real shutout before Egor Kliuka finished the game with another powerful spike.

Quotes

Sergey Shlyapnikov, Russia coach: “I am extremely satisfied with the result. The match was not as easy as the result might suggest, as we expected a competitive game from Belgium, who are a great team and have beaten defending champions France in the pool phase.” 

Maksim Zhigalov, Russia opposite: “I am happy with the result and the quality of our performance against Belgium. I hope we will be able to keep this level tomorrow and continue our straight-set winning streak. We saw how Germany made a comeback in the match against Serbia and therefore we made sure to keep focus and not let our guard down after the second set. We know we always have to be ready for a hit back and I am glad we kept our focus on a high level until the end.” 

Pieter Verhees, middle blocker of Belgium: “It all went wrong for us, but I want first to congratulate Russia. They played almost a perfect match, and I am sorry that we were not able to play even close to the level we showed since the beginning of this tournament. They were just too strong in all elements of the game. We played against Serbia two times this year – we lost one match and we won the other, so I can’t say who will win the bronze medal game, but I know that this will be an interesting match to follow.” 

Sam Deroo, captain of Belgium: “It’s hard to say anything after this match, because they were too powerful and the difference between the two teams was visible. We started every set trailing like 3-8 and they were spiking one meter above our block. So maybe it is good that we did not waste too much energy in this game, because tomorrow it is another day and a better opportunity to go back home with a medal.”