Russian team celebrating
The Russian team rejuvenated itself and is still growing together as a team. The leaving of the top player Ekaterina Gamova becomes noticeable and thus Belarus led surprisingly in the beginning of the first set. Especially the middle-blocker Anzhelika Barysevich could score with her quick attacks. In between it was equal (14:14) and then Russia took over with a very strong Nataliya Obmochaeva before the technical break with 16:14. The Russians didn’t give up their leadership thanks to a great block-field-defense which led to the set win with 25:21 in the end.
In the second set both teams worked ahead almost equally until they drew level at 5:5. Russia led 8:6 at the technical break and both teams met again at 10:10, whereupon three points were achieved by the Byelorussian player Anastasiya Harelik. Spectacular rallies brought heat into the ice arena and Belarus led 16:15 at the technical break. The audience cheered for both teams enthusiastically. The growingly strong Nadzeya Malasai turned the second set ball into a 25:22 for Belarus.
Russia started more aggressively into the third set and left with 8:2 into the technical break. Too many mistakes of the Byelorussians made it easy for the Russians to achieve one point after the other. Over 16:6 at the second technical break the Russians reached the set win with 25:14 with big steps.
In the fourth set the Byelorussians came closer to the Russians again, but despite of three block successes of Belarus the Russians went with 8:6 into the technical break. However the Byelorussian team was decreasingly a danger for the Russians. The Russian wing-spiker Tatiana Kosheleva turned the second match-ball into the 25:14 finally after 110 minutes.
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