Russia Ruins US Men’s Volleyball Team’s Perfect Record

Dmitriy Ilinykh #15 of Russia blocks a shot by Clayton Stanley #13 of the United States during Men's Volleyball on Day 8 of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Elsa/Getty Images

The U.S. men’s indoor volleyball team were handed their first defeat Saturday by the Russian Federation in a  two-hour, ten-minute five-set match which saw Russia battle back from a two-set deficit to claim victory.

The previously undefeated American men won the first two sets 29–27 and 25–19. The U.S. offense fizzled after that, though the defense stayed strong. Nonetheless Russia found holes; though the side hit 14 service errors in the first three matches, they still managed to out-point the U.S. squad which couldn’t beat Russia’s triple-blocks. The set went to Russia, 26–24.

Russia took an early lead in set four; the U.S couldn’t penetrate the Russian wall, while Russia’s Sergey Tetyukhin racked up 14 kills halfway through the set (he finished with 17, second to Maxim Mikhaylov’s 23.) Russia took this set 25–16; the Russians were figuring out and wearing down their U.S. opponents.

The final set took only fourteen minutes, Russia ran up an 11–4 lead, and though the U.S. tried to battle back, the lost by a score of 15–8.

“They started putting a lot of pressure on us with their serve. ”In the first couple sets they were missing a lot and making a lot of hitting errors; it kind of gave us the first two sets,“ U.S. outside hitter Matthew Anderson told NBC Sports. ”In the third set they put a lot of pressure on us with their serve.

“They are big guys with big blocks whicht makes it a little bit more difficult for us to get points, especially in transition. Toward the end we kind of backed of a little bit on our serves and weren’t making them as well making some hitting errors here and there, and it eventually gave them the match.”

What can the U.S. side take away from the match? Another U.S. outside hitter, Reid Priddy, said, “We came out really well—we had them, with what they were coming at us with. They changed some things during the match. I think we need to be better at adapting throughout the match—try to see what they did differently and respond.

“Of course, it’s one point at a time. Tunisia’s up next. We want to recover and have a game plan against them.”

The U.S. still leads Group b, and can keep that lead with a three- or four-set win over Tunisia Monday, August 6.