USA and Italy line up for the National Anthem on day two of the FIVB World Grand Prix Finals
Omaha, USA, July 23, 2015 – Russia, China and United States scored victories on day two of the FIVB World Grand Prix Finals, delivering exciting moments to the crowd in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
Day three has intriguing matches as USA (2-0) hosts Russia (2-0) in a battle of undefeated teams for sole leadership of first-place. Brazil (1-1) will look to rebound from their day-two loss against Russia by playing Japan (0-2). China (1-1), after winning a key match against Asia rival Japan, will face Italy (0-2).
Russia shocked Brazil 25-19, 28-26, 25-19 on the second day of the FIVB World Grand Prix Finals being held in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
Russia improve to 2-0 with six points, while Brazil fall to 1-1 with three points. Brazil, the two-time defending World Grand Prix champions, were undefeated in 10 World Grand Prix matches this season.
Nataliya Goncharova led Russia with 24 points, followed by Alexandra Pasynkova with 14 points. Natalia Pereira paced Brazil with 11 points and Monique Marinho Pavao charted 10 points. Russia out-blocked Brazil 13-6 and held a 7-5 service ace advantage.
Host United States, ranked No. 1 in the world, defeated Italy 25-17, 25-14, 15-25, 25-18 on Thursday evening on the second day of the FIVB World Grand Prix Finals being held in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
USA was led by middle blockers Christa Dietzen (14 points) and Lauren Gibbemeyer (13 points). Italy was paced by Lucia Bosetti’s 12 points. Although Italy out-blocked the USA 13-8, the Americans held a 7-5 edge in aces and took advantage of 23 Italian errors while limiting their own to 10.
China recovered from their opening day loss yesterday to defeat continental rival Japan 25-20, 25-19, 25-12 on Thursday in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
China’s Yanhan Liu scored a match-high 19 points and Changning Zhang and Yixin Zheng added 12 points. Japan’s Sarina Koga produced 11 points in the loss. China out-blocked Japan 11-1 as their service game held a 6-2 advantage. Japan fall to 0-2 as China evened their record at 1-1.
Top scoring performances
28 – Nataliya Goncharova of Russia vs Italy (July 22)
24 – Nataliya Goncharova of Russia vs Brazil (July 23)
19 – Yanhan Liu of China vs. Japan (July 23)
17 - Karsta Lowe of USA vs Japan (July 22)
17 – Valentina Diouf of Italy vs Russia (July 22)
Top scoring performances by team
98 – Brazil vs China (July 22)
90 – USA vs Italy (July 23)
Top blocking performances
8 – Natilya Goncharova of Russia vs Brazil (July 23)
7 – Juciely Cristina Barreto of Brazil vs China (July 22)
Top blocking performances by team
14 – Brazil vs China (July 22)
13 – Italy vs USA (July 23)
11 - USA vs Japan (July 22)
11 – China vs Japan (July 23)
Top serving performances
4 – Danielle Lins of Brazil vs China (July 22)
3 – Alexandra Pasynkova of Russia vs Brazil (July 23)
3 – Yixin Zheng of China vs Japan (July 23)
3 – Changing Zhang of China vs Japan (July 23)
Top serving performances by team
11 – Brazil v China (July 22)
Highest scorer by day
Day 1: 28 – Nataliya Goncharova of Russia vs Italy (July 22)
Day 2: 24 – Nataliya Goncharova of Russia vs Brazil (July 23)
Highest set score
Day 1: Russia vs Italy, 28-26 (July 22)
Day 2: Russia vs Brazil, 28-26 (July 23)