Although Serbia showed both physical and mental strenght, Russia could not let this game slip away. Sborna is the first team in great final of EuroVolley 2013!
Russia – Serbia 3:1 (25:19, 24:26, 25:23, 25:15)
Line-ups and scores:
Russia: Grankin (2), Spiridonov (10), Apalikov (12), Pavlov (19), Sivozhelez (14), Muserskiy (17), Verbov (L) and Makarov, Mikhailov, Ermakov (L)
Serbia: Jovovic (1), Nikic (6), Lisinac (8), Atanasijevic (5), Kovacevic (3), Podrascanin (7), Rosic (L) and Starovic, Ivovic (7), Petric (3)
This game started with ace from Apalikov. Russian block began to work right away and they managed to take a lead 5:2. Serbian players intented to work with strong service, but they made some mistakes in this element. Russia mantained the leverage (8:4) and after the first TTO we had another block. Then, Atanasijevic scored one point in attack. Serbia blocked Russian attack twice. On the second TTO it was 16:12 for Sborna. Sivozhelez added an ace and Kolakovic was forced to take a break. Russians kept on going with their own rythym and there was nothing Serbia could do to stop them in this part.
At the beginning of the second set the challenge system was used and the controversial situation was verified for Russia. Serbia still couldn’t keep the quality of service, but they did not stayed behind and even scored with block. Serbia took a lead for a moment, but Nikic failed on service. Muserskiy set the ball to Pavlov and Apalikov did his work on service – in a few minutes we came from 8:8 to 14:10 for Russia. Lisinac caused Russians some trouble with his service, but Olympic champions didn’t let this fact distract them. Serbians tried to catch up and thanks to their patience and some opponent’s errors, they kept real chances till the end. Atanasijevic gave an ace and it was 23:22 for Russia. Andrey Voronkov took a break. After this time out, Pavlov got blocked and Serbia gained a set ball. Muserskiy made a mistake and it was over.
Third set was more balanced at the beginning, on the first TTO Russia had only one point of leverage. Milos Nikic was stopped on the wing and then Atanasijevic shot block-out. Once again Russians built a lead (14:9) and they only continued to score more and more. Sergey Makarov and Mikhaylov joined the game. Podrascanin worked out on service. Spiridonov made a mistake and it was only two points of distance. Atanasijevic gave a tie (21:21). Sivozhelez spiked strongly and wildly, trying to save this part and he made it – Russia won the third set 25:23.
Russia was willing to do everything in their power to finish this game without tie break. They built a lead 10:5, but Serbia showed and example of a mental strenght and did not want to let it go. Russians began to make some simple mistakes again, but it was not really that harmful for them (16:8 on the second TTO). The games was closed by Nikolay Pavlov and Russia became the first final team of EuroVolley 2013.
Team Stats:
| Actions | Spike points | Spike % | Block | Serve | Rec Exc | Rec Pos | Errors |
| Russia | 53 | 47% | 16 | 5 | 13% | 56% | 25 |
| Serbia | 45 | 39% | 9 | 2 | 15% | 60% | 30 |
Team Leaders:
| Actions | Points | Spike pts | Spike % | Block | Ace | Errors |
| Nikolay Pavlov | 19 | 21 | 54% | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Aleksandar Atanasijevic | 13 | 13 | 54% | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Description: CEV
