Russian giants add yet another title to their unique showcase

On Sunday Russia emulated what Serbia had done two years ago with the men’s national team following their countrywomen who had won European gold two weeks ago in Berlin to win the final match of the 2013 CEV VELUX EuroVolley at Parken stadium. After losing their first game in preliminary pool D to Germany, Russia had a clean run all the way to yet another gold medal as they beat Italy 3:1 (25-20, 25-22, 21-25, and 25-17) to follow up on their previous success at the 2012 London Olympics and at this year’s World League Finals. That was also the first title for Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union that had finished first in their last appearance under this denomination back in 1991. With this success, Russia also got the right to represent Europe at the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Champions Cup scheduled for this coming November in Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan.

2013 CEV VELUX EuroVolley – Final standing   

1. Russia #*
2. Italy #*
3. Serbia *
4. Bulgaria *
5. France *
6. Germany *
7. Belgium *
8. Finland 
9. Poland 
10. Netherlands 
11. Slovakia 
12. Denmark 
13. Slovenia 
14. Turkey 
15. Belarus 
16. Czech Republic   

#* Qualified for 2014 FIVB Volleyball World Championships and for final round of 2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Men in Bulgaria/Italy
* Qualified for final round of 2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Men in Bulgaria/Italy 

Individual Awards   

MVP: Dmitriy Muserskiy (RUS) 
Best Scorer: Aleksandar Atanasijevic (SRB) 
Best Spiker: Luca Vettori (ITA) 
Best Blocker: Srecko Lisinac (SRB) 
Best Server: Ivan Zaytsev (ITA) 
Best Receiver: Todor Aleksiev (BUL) 
Best Setter: Sergey Grankin (RUS) 
Best libero: Alexey Verbov (RUS) 
Fair Play Award: Nikola Jovovic (SRB)