Recent major achievements
FIVB World Ranking 4th (as of 30/05/21)
Planned to participate in the Tokyo Olympics
2019
World Cup 6th place
VNL Champion
European Championships 5th place
2018
World Championships 6th place
VNL Champion
Registered Members
Outside hitter (5)
#1 Jaroslaw Podlesnik 26/ 198/ 341
#5 Anton Semishev 23/ 201/ 350
#7 Dmitry Volkov 26/ 201/ 340
10 Denis Bogdan 24/ 200/ 350
18 Igor Kliuka 25/ 209/ 360
Middle Blocker (4)
#2 Ilya Vlazov 25/ 212/ 360
#4 Artem Volvich 31/ 212/ 352
13 Dmitry Musersky 32/ 218/ 367
20 Ilyas Kurukayev 27/ 207/ 355
Opposite(2)
15 Viktor Poletaev 25/ 197/ 360
17 Maxim Mikhailov 32/ 202/ 345
Setter (2)
10 Pawel Pankov 25/ 198/ 345
24 Igor Kobzal(C) 30/ 198/ 337
Libero (2)
#6 Evgeny Barankov 25/ 180/ 300
27 Valentin Golubev 29/ 190/ 310
Average age: 27.0 years old
Average height (excluding libero): 204.1cm
Average highest point / 350.9cm
Head Coach: Tomas Samuelvo (Finland)
Main starting lineup
OH2 18 Kriuka
OH5 1 Podlesnik
MB3 2 Vlazov
MB6 4 Volvic
OP 17 Mikhailov
S 24 Kobu Monkey
L 27 Golubev
Overall
Russia is currently on a two-time winning streak, and this year they are aiming to dominate the tournament again, using their dynamic volleyball style, which combines height and power.
The outside players are Kliuka and Podlesnik. Kliuka is a young outside player who has been a central figure in the team supporting Russia since Rio. At 209cm, he is quite large for an outside player, but he also has high receiving ability and is a player with excellent balance between offense and defense. He has an imposing presence, probably due to his beard, but he is still young, the same generation as Ishikawa. On the opposite side, Podlesnik, made a major contribution as a starter to Moscow's Russian League victory last season. These two also fought on either side of the net in the Russian League final. Also on the reserves is Volkov, who was selected to the VNL Best 6 for two consecutive years.
The middle blockers are Vlazov and Volvic. Vlazov is a middle blocker with great potential, boasting outstanding decisiveness thanks to his high quickness, although he still has some roughness to his name. Volvic is a veteran middle blocker with a distinctive Russian face, while Volvic is more known for his blocking ability. Both of them are extremely tall at 212cm, but on the bench is Muserskiy, who is well known in Japan at 218cm. He played as an opposite for Suntory and was registered as an opposite for the national team, but was registered as a middle blocker for this tournament. The other middle blocker, Kurukaev, is the smallest, but he is only 207cm tall. Ah, Russia is so scary.
The opposite is the familiar Russian cannon Mikhailov. He has competed in three Olympic Games since Beijing and has a veteran feel to him, but he is still in his prime. I think he can make it to Paris. I once had a photo taken with him, and he had a nice aura about him. Although he is in Mikhailov's shadow, the opposite is also amazing, the reserve player Poletaev. At 197cm, he is not big for a Russian, but he has excellent jumping ability and can hit sharp spikes. I would like to see Nishida and Poletaev go head to head someday.
The setter is Kobzar, who also serves as captain. He is the setter who will take over from the long-standing system of Grankin and Butiko. When he was with Zenit Kazan, his play was still rough, but since transferring to Kuzbass, I feel that he has become more stable. The reserve player, Pankov, is a thoroughbred whose mother is an Olympic gold medalist. He played as the starting setter for Dynamo Moscow, who won the league last season.
The libero is Golubev, who took over from the famous libero Belbov at Zenit Kazan. He has firmly established himself as the starting libero for the national team. The reserve is the young Barankov.
The team will be led by Finnish manager Samuelo Jr., who is popularly known as "Koppi" and has also played for Japan's Toyoda Gosei (now WD Nagoya).
Japan beat Russia in the World Cup two years ago, but to be honest, Russia was almost a B team at that time. However, the members of this tournament are very serious, so it will be very difficult for Japan to win. If there is a chance of victory, it will be in the serve. The key will be how well the serve can break down the opponent and put pressure on them. Only if we can compete on an equal footing with Russia can we see a medal in the future.
BE PART OF THE GAME!!! →Volleyball Nations League 2021
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