Russia – team
Russia easily routed Norway in straight sets (25-12, 25-11, and 25-23). Dmitry Volkov was once again Russia’s most prolific scorer with 16 points. Kristoffer Alstad Ostvik topped the charts for Norway with 9.
“Russia has got some players with the potential of making it to the Olympics one day and my players are much younger than their opponents” said Norway’s head coach, Japan-born Haruya Indo. “These teams are extremely different in many ways, tactically, physically, mentally etc. I regret that we could not bring it home in the third set but I hope this is a good lesson for future matches against such strong opponents. I also know that my guys did their best today”.
To round out Friday’s schedule Estonia beat the hosts of Latvia 3:1 (28-30, 25-22, 25-23, and 25-16). Oliver Orav – after totaling 35 points in Thursday’s defeat to Ukraine – chartered 21; Maris Lancmanis, Matiss Senkans and Aleksandrs Avdejevs all registered 14 for the home side.
“These teams are quite similar but today Estonia played better than we did. We did not block with the right consistency, made many mistakes in defense and did not serve well in the final phases of each set. Without these mistakes the result could have been different” commented Latvia’s mentor Janis Bomins.
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