This is an exciting day, the World League semifinals. It's not the Olympic Games, nor the world championships, but it is international volleyball's foremost annual event, and I get pretty pumped for it. We're almost down to see who will be our World League champions for 2013.
The final four are the same as they were at the Olympics last summer, though the pairings aren't the same. The first match on the docket today was Russia against Italy, which I reckoned to be the stronger of the two semifinals.
I joined just as the match reached the first technical timeout, with Russia up a slender 8-6. The Olympic champs went to work there, getting five of the next six, several off the hand of the cocksure Alexey Spiridonov, to go up by six at 13-7. That prmompted Italy's charged timeout. Nikolay Pavlov kept the ball rolling after the timeout with a kill off a roll shot, and the server Nikolay Apalikov added an ace to have the Russians more than double up their foes from Italy, on 15-7. His next serve netted to finally get the Italians their sideout, but Evgeny Sivozhelez emphatically brought us to the second technical with Russia up big, 16-8.
Ivan Zaytsev got the Italians their sideout on 16-9, and then Cristian Savani took another back to make it a six-point set. He celebrated his service point a little too demonstratively for my liking — his team were still getting spanked.The big man Muserskiy got the kill for the Russian sideout, and then a kill for Spiridonov made it an eight-point set again. He too celebrated a little demonstratively. When Russia's run extended to a lead of 19-10, Italy expended their last timeout.
The timeout presaged Sivozhelez' service error into the net (I wouldn't say it caused it, but it may have). Italy failed to take advantage, as Savani's subsequent serve also found the net. Filippo Lanza entered the match in place of Savani there, on 20-11. Dmitriy Muserskiy went to the service line and got an ace — it was one of those where the opposition does touch it a couple of times, but they were unable to return it legally. Matteo Piano entered the match as a blocking sub on 21-11 (which I can scarcely even believe I'm typing), and on that serve Muserskiy got another ace, the more traditional kind, as he found the floor on the fly. Simone Parodi got the Italians their sideout, but it was little more than a bump in the road. This horror show of a set for the Italians ended on 25-12, after the Russians' first and only attempt at set point.
The Italians put their nightmare of a first set behind them, and set 2 was an even exchange in the early going. The boys in blue even brifely had the set's first 2-point edge, at scores of 3-1 and 4-2, but the Russians came and kept level shortly afterward. Level they stayed until the final serve before the first technical timeout, an ace for Zaytsev to bring us to 8-6.
A kill for Thomas Beretta off the quick hitter up the middle established Italy's first 3-point lead at 10-7, which paved the way for an ace from the captain (Savani) to bring us to 11-7. The rally on that score was a long one, ending with Parodi coming up victorious in a joust against Apalikov to stake Italy to a 5-point lead. They called time there.The 12-7 rally was long, at last ending with a kill for Spiridonov after kind of a curious free-ball from the Italian side that it looked like they could have swung at if they wanted to. Spiridonov added one on serve to inch closer. They gave it back on reception at 14-10, being whistled for a fault (I didn't see the signal and the only stream I could find had Italian commentary, so I don't know what it was). Whatever it was, the Russians weren't happy, and the squawking ensued. The up ref chided them to, well, shut up, basically. Two rallies later the Russians got the point back to draw within 15-12. That's how you should do it. Don't squawk, just game. It was 16-12 at the technical timeout.
The big man Muserskiy got the Russians their sideout on 16-13, and then a short but intense rally featuring a very nice dig from the Russian libero Alexey Verbov led to a kill on the right side for Spiridonov. On 16-14, Italy's hit from the left side was ruled long with no touch. They challenged, looking for a net violation against the Russians, but the play stood as called in real time, with no fault. On 18-17, Russia subbed in their serving specialist Ilia Zhilin, who let loose a nice one. Italy looked to have him well passed, but setter Dragan Travica's attempt to sneak the ball over on 2 on a dink fooled no one, as the team in red had the block waiting. With the scored tied at 18's, Italy called timeout.
Timeouts are a crapshoot as far as icing the server. It didn't in this case, as Zhilin found the floor for an ace. His next serve flew long. Russia challenged, but the ball was clearly in on replay. With the sideout, the serving sub undid itself and Russia setter Sergey Grankin re-entered the match. Italy claimed a service point on 20-all, despite the Russians having several opportunities to sideout and stayed in the advantage. The Russians responded with three of four to absorb the Italians' second and final timeout. Parodi got the big sideout on 23-all, to keep Russia from reaching set point while they could just sideout to get there. The serve on 23-all found the net, and Russia did still reach set point first. A big couple of digs on the Russian side led to a right-side hitting chance for Pavlov against a late-forming block, and he converted the chance, putting Russia up 2 sets to nil.
It was a feeling-out process to begin set 3, as neither side led by 2 prior to the first technical timeout (Russia held the slender 8-7 lead as the teams went for their benches). The last rally before the technical ended on a long hit from Parodi. The Italians complained to the up referee about the call, I guess forgetting they could have just challenged? On the first rally after the timeout, Parodi hit straight into the block on the Italian right side, and then on the second Zaytsev did likewise on the left side. Speaks well to the mobilitiy and vision of the Russian front row at the time — Muserskiy, Grankin, and Pavlov. (But mostly just Muserskiy) Italy called their first timeout of the set, down 10-7.
Italy made a smart challenge a little later in the set, when Muserskiy was ruled to have found the floor for a service ace, but the video evidence showed the ball landed a good few inches long. That was a two-point swing, keeping the Russians from going up five. It went sideout after sideout to the technical timeout, with Russia on top 16-12 on serve. Italy were siding out better than they did earlier int he set (and certainly better than set 1), but it favoured the Russians at this point.
Spiridonov scored the next service point, a kill to put Russia ahead by five on 18-13, and of course he howled and gestured. Someone needs to get him to act like he's been there before. He is such a talented player, but this showboating of his is, to put it mildly, a little tiresome. Emanuele Birarelli drew the service point back with a quick hitter up the middle to draw back within three at 19-16, and then Russia's offence had a little nervous breakdown. As the play fell apart, the libero Verbov collided with the setter Grankin, and needed a moment before he got up and was replaced by his off-colour sporting counterpart Artem Ermakov, who played the rest of the match.
Parodi kept the roll going for Italy, getting another kill on serve to draw back within a point at 19-18. Sivozhelez scored the sideout, off the set from Sergey Makarov who entered in place of Grankin at that point. That's usually what happens when everything goes wrong — you swap out the setter. I really didn't think everything was going that wrong for the Russians, though. Sivozhelez' kill sent him back to serve on 20-18, and he ably found the seam in the Italian reception for an ace. They called time there to try to salvage the set and, accordingly, the match. On 21-19, Italy brought in a serving sub Luca Vettori, but he did not live up to his name, netting his lone attempt. Birarelli's service winner did draw the Italians back within a point on 22-21. A crucial centre line violation committed by the Italian libero Rossini, confirmed on video review, made it match point for Russia on 24-22. Zaytsev found the floor to stave off the reception point, and Russia called timeout.
It was Savani on the service line as we came back, and his jump-float was a beauty of a serve, leading to a dodgy set and an easily dug hit on the Russian side. Italy went right back to Zaytsev and he got the winner, to make it extras. They went right back to him again on 24-all to reach their first set point of the night, and Russia called their second and last timeout. They iced only themselves. Pavlov's final hit failed to clear the net, and there was again no sweep to be had.
Between sets, the FIVB tweeted a neat factoid — this is the 11th time Italy and Russia have met in the World League championship round, and not once has the match ended in three straight sets. I guess history had to be held up.
After a short eye-for-an-eye exchange, Russia edged ahead by three for the first time on 7-4 with serving pressure from Pavlov and Muserskiy leading the way. That lead held up to the first technical timeout, on 8-5. The first rally back from the technical featured the Russians taking their four-point lead. It took Spridonov a few tries at it from the left pin, but he eventually got the kill off the block touch and long. Russia had a chance to make it a five-point set on the next rally, but Apalikov's block positioning wasn't great, and Zaytsev was able to sneak his hit through. Spiridonov served up an ace on 10-6 to make it a five-point lead after all. Italy challenged for a foot fault to be called, but on replay review it wasn't close, Spiridonov's serve was easily legal. After a few sideouts, a bad bounce went against Parodi on the left side — his hit went off the block and should have just landed wide, but it hit his foot on the way out. That meant it was point Russia, to go up six at 14-8. The Italians called time there. They pulled one back on serve with a nicely-formed double block against Pavlov drawing them to within 14-10, but this success was short-lived as Birarelli missed his shot wide to make it 16-10 at the second technical timeout.
The Italians went to work here, getting two or three points for every one for the Russians for a good stretch. One of the odd Russian points in the stretch was perhaps the most detestable example of Spiridonov's showboating. The serve went after him, and his reception was total crap. Just awful. It didn't go anywhere it needed to. The libero Ermakov bailed him out with a terrific overhand set to the left pin, and Spiridonov wound up getting the kill anyway. And he strutted his stuff. Russia called time when their lead was narrowed to 18-16. Spiridonov sided the Russians out there (he's a terrific player, no denying that, he's just so damn cocky), and the two sides jaw-jacked each other through the net. A yellow card was assessed to Italy (I believe one was assessed to Russia earlier on).
Then the wheels came off a little. Everything was said in a language I don't speak (the players' talk, the commentary), so I'm not sure exactly of what happened. The officials appeared to miss a call on let-serve that should have been ruled an ace for Russia, granting Italy the sideout. Evidently, it wasn't reviewable, or they would have done just that. It made the score 21-18 Russia. Spiridonov mouthed off about the call, and was assessed a red card. He kept mouthing off, and was assessed yellow and red cards simultaneously — you will almost never see that without a flagrant violation or persisent abuse, and I think Spiridonov well falls under the latter. The yellow/red combo forcibly sent Spiridonov to the sideline for the entire rest of the set. There, he finally appeared to realise what he was doing and show a little remorse (at least I can hope). Zhilin was his replacement.
It turned out he only had to sit a few minutes, as Russia pretty quickly reached match point, on 24-20. They sealed it on serve.
Russia d. Italy (25-12, 25-23, 24-26, 25-20)
Not the most fun I've ever had watching a volleyball match. Italy played like absolute crap in set 1, and while sets 2 and 3 were better, they set the stage for the unpleasantness that came to a head in set 4. Spiridonov is not under any sanction for tomorrow's championship match, though I hope the officiating crew for that one will have him on a tight leash. Someone needs to break this stallion.
Pavlov led all scorers with 19 kills. Muserskiy was actually pretty quiet as far as scoring went, having only 12 total points (10 kills, 1 ace, 1 block), but just his presence can be enough to disrupt a team. Italy's leading scorer was Zaytsev with 16 kills, and he had a better match than he did yesterday, improving his attack efficiency to .325. But Russia simply had the upper hand in every area in this match. A little of that's bleedover from the set 1 laugher, but not all of it. Even though the scores got closer, they remained in charged throughout.
Click below for for the Brazil/Bulgaria report.
This match probably figured to favour the Brazilians pretty strongly. They've looked the strongest of any team here (which does speak to the parity of the field), losing an epic 5-setter to Russia (where have we heard that before) before comfortably sweeping aside Canada. The Bulgarians had had trouble getting their motor running in their matches this World League season. Yes, the two finals group stage matches count toward that, but so too the earlier matches in the preliminary rounds. They have the look of a team who really don't know how to come out of the gates and seize the bull by the horns, and while that's tough for anyone to do against Brazil, you're in real trouble if it's not something that's in your arsenal at all.
Ricardo Lucarelli scored the match's first service point, and did so in style by finding the floor through a seam in the back-row for a service ace. That put Brazil ahead 5-3 early, and they extended their lead on then ext rally when a centre line fault was whistled against the Bulgarians. The boys in red (Bulgaria) got one back prior to the first technical timeout, with a kill for Tsvetan Sokolov from the right side after a nice dig from the libero Teodor Salporov. Wallace de Souza sided out for Brazil to take the set to technical timeout number 1, with Brazil ahead 8-6.
Brazil's well-formed triple block in front of Sokolov led to them re-establishing their 3-point lead not long after the technical, on 10-7. Georgi Bratoev and Viktor Yosifov averted a minor disaster at 11-8, successfully putting up the double block to fend off a Brazilian service point. I don't think blocks for sideouts ever really get enough attention. 12-9 was a good rally, starting off with a heater of a serve from Wallace. Bulgaria returned a free ball, but had a shot to set their offence later when they dug the incoming hit. Unfortunately for them, setter Georgi Bratoev was whistled for a double hit. Down 13-9, Bularia expended a timeout. It didn't faze Wallace, who found the floor for an ace on his first serve back, putting Brazil ahead by a comfortable 14-9. That margin held to the second technical, with the boys in yellow up a comfortable 16-11.
It took all of no time for Brazil to extend their lead further, nipping three straight to take an 8-point lead at 19-11. First-time starter Isac Santos, filling in for Eder Carbonera at middle blocker, led the way with some big hits up the middle. Lucas Saatkamp asserted himself further on his next two serves after the timeout, an ace and an overpass for Isac to gobble up on the front line. His serve at 21-11 was a trickly little let-ace, one of those Murphy's Law moments. Bulgaria inserted a sub there, to try to break the momentum, and Lucas did miss long on 22-11, but that's still a service run you take every single time. Bruno Rezende completely chopped up the Bulgarian block on 22-12, looking like he was going to set the left side until the last possible moment when he sent it over on the dink. That kill rotated him back to serve, and he served out the set, finishing it strongly with another ace. Bulgaria played a pretty rotten first set all aroiund, but reception was especially bad.
The beat went on in set 2, as Dante Amaral began the set with an ace. The next rally was fairlyl ong, but it still went to Brazil on serve, as Lucarelli finished it off. He and Wallace added winners to bring Brazil to 4-0, and Bulgaria expended an early timeout. Bulgaria coach Camilo Placi implored his men to show some fire, but when they came back on the court they looked like a team defeated, just like late in set 1 and in the first few points of set 2. When the deficit reached 5-0, Placi made the typical 'desperation' move, inserting Dobromir Dimitrov in at setter in place of Bratoev. Sokolov finally got Bulgaria a token sideout there, on 5-1. Isac came close to adding an ace when he rotated back to serve on 6-1, as the ball struck the top of the net and rolled over, but landed just out. Finally, on 6-2, Bulgaria started to show a little life, Yosifov leading a double block. That touched off a little mini-run, as they closed to within 2 before Sokolov netted his serve on 7-5 to bring us to the technical timeout.
The teams rapidly traded service points in the stretch following the technical timeout, with Bulgaria closing to within 2 at one point, on a big block against Isac up the middle, before Sokolov committed a net fault to extend Brazil back to a 4-point lead on 13-9. Four became six in a hurry, and Brazil led by five at the second technical timeout. That's not an easy hole to climb out of against the world number-one team, and more dreadful service reception extended the lead further. An ace for Isac made it 18-11 Brazil, and Bulgaria went back to their first setter Bratoev here.
Just like in set 1, everything started falling apart for the Bulgarians. A lift against Bratoev, a double block formed against Sokolov, and Bulgaria expended their last timeout looking up at a 20-11 deficit. They took three in a row to close back to within six and prompt Bernardinho to call time for the first time all night, but there was not really a sense that they posed a threat to come back and win the set. A kill from the quick hitter up the middle by Lucas, set up by the great dig by Brazil libero Mario da Silva, made it set point on 24-17. Bulgaria committed a centre line violation to end it. They challenged (having nothing to lose), but the call stood.
After a full halftime, the teams came back out. Todor Aleksiev scored an ace against Dante on his first serve of the set, and I believe that right there, 1-0, was the first lead Bulgaria had had all night. It didn't last long. Brazil got their sideout and then took the also impossibly-early 2-1 lead with Wallace and Lucas' block touch setting up an easy dig for Mario, which in turn set up an easy set and hit. On 2-1, Lucas was out-jousted at the net by Todor Skrimov, and you won't see Lucas lose too many of those, especially against a shorter opponent. That touched off an even exchange of points for a little while. Sokolov missed his serve at 4-3, and complained about something despite the ball being visibly wide. Floor captain Aleksiev spoke with the up referee for a moment, but nothing happened. Valentin Bratoev afforded Bulgaria their first substantial lead of the night, leading the way for three straight service points to take the set from 4-all to 7-4. A visibly frustrated (borderline disgusted) Bernardinho called time, but Bratoev found the floor on his next serve for an ace to make it 8-4 at the technical timeout.
He came close to another on the first serve after the technical, but Wallace in left-back made the right choice by Matrix'ing his way out of the way as it landed just slightly long. Yosifov got Bulgaria a stylish solo block for the sideout, against Isac up the middle, and then the 9-5 rally was a total mess. Brazil's pass was one of the worst I've ever seen from them, but its trajectory coming back over the net also disrupted Bulgaria. The Europeans wound up getting the point anyway, to go up five. Aleksiev followed that up with a kill off the double block and out to go up 11-5, and Bernardinho called his second and final timeout.
The Brazilians kicked a little life into themselves at that point, blocking and defending like they had in the first two sets rather than how they had at the outset of set 3. They took four of five after the small ass-chewing their legendary coach gave them, drawing back within three at 12-9. That held to the second technical, coming at 16-13.
The teams kept on trading points until 18-16, when Wallace claimed a through the block and out (rather than off it). He was fired up to get that point, and Bulgaria called time with their lead narrowed to a single point. The next service point was bound to be crucial, and it went to Bulgaria, as Svetoslav Gotsev led the triple block rejection against Lucarelli to extend their lead back to 21-18. Bruno ran the quick hitter up the middle to Lucas on serve at 21-19, and drew a point back, but Bulgaria got their sideout to remain in the driver's seat. At 22-21, Brazil libero Mario did an outstanding job tracking down a bad pass that went way long (he had to lean over the advertising boards at courtside to reach the ball), but Brazil could only send back a free ball, and Aleksiev got the kill in transition. When Lucarelli netted his serve on 23-22, that sent Valentin Bratoev back to serve set point for Bulgaria. He netted his serve as well.
The 24-23 rally had to be played two different times. The first time, Brazil's Dante and Lucarelli tripped over one another, and Dante collapsed in a heap in obvious pain. Replays didn't show his leg or ankle to have twisted in an unnatural way, so I imagine he's not dreadfully hurt, but dude was definitely feeling it. Play immediately stopped, and Mauricio Borges Almeida Silva came in for him. The second 24-23 rally ended with Sokolov hitting into the block and out to win the set for Bulgaria 25-23, sending us to a 4th.
Set 4 started off tight, with neither team leading by 2 prior to the technical timeout at 8-7 Brazil. Mauricio stayed in in place of Dante, who was quickly ruled out of any return. The chain snapped for Bulgaria after the second timeout, as the South Americans took three straight to go up by four. Bulgaria called time, but it did not effect the server Bruno, as his first serve back fell in for an ace.
Brazil went ahead by seven at the second technical timeout, 16-9. The rest of the match was mostly just an even exchange of points. It wasn't all sideout after sideout, and in fact the lead fluctuated a fair bit, between five and ten points, but it was really just Brazil taking control to the finish. Lucarelli finished off the match with a left-side crosscourt kill for a service point.
Brazil d. Bulgaria (25-12, 25-17, 23-25, 25-16)
I tuned out a little as this one went on. Bulgaria decided to show up in set three, but other than the first few points, not in set four. Given that it was 8-7 in the early going of the 4th, it really was about as lopsided as the 1st, which was awfully lopsided indeed.
The shing star of the match was Wallace, who racked up 24 kills to lead all scorers. Pretty good total for 4 sets. Aleksiev led the Bulgarians with 14, and I think just about all of them came in set 3. Blocking was actually dead even in this match, 8 aside, but the Brazilians enjoyed tremendous advantages on the service line (7 to 1 in aces….felt like even more than that) and in front-line attack (56 kills to 36). It was a dreadful match for Sokolov in particular, as he had just 6 kills with no other scoring plays and didn't even play the whole match, being lifted in set 4 (possible he hurt himself).
The stage is now set for a very interesting World League championship Sunday. We've got two Olympic rematches in store. The gold medal final and the bronze medal final feature the exact same nations as they did last summer in London, though a lot of the team members have changed. One hopes Dante will be good to go for Brazil, and likewise Eder (though I don't know the extent of their injuries, they may be out for months for all I know). Isac did a solid job filling in for Eder, but going up against the Russians Brazil will be at a deficit if it's him lining up against Muserskiy and Pavlov.
I think the bronze medal final will probably come out the same as last summer, but I'm betting we have a new team on the top of the podium. Despite some injuries piling up, the unit the Brazilians had in the match today did just fine together and should be ready to pose a serious challenge to Russia. I really hate storylines about who 'wants it more' (everyone wants it, they're competitors) but after a couple of crushing 5-set losses to the Russians, the Brazilians are gonna savour this chance for vengeance, because their next one isn't for quite some time — probably not until next year's World League or world championships (it could be at an event over the winter called the World Grand Champions Cup, if Russia win the European Championship, but not too many eyeballs are going to be on that event).
The eyes of the volleyball world will be fixated on Mar del Plata one more day tomorrow, and the championship final is sure to be a memorable match.
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