Kaliningrad, Russia, June 12, 2016 – Russia prevail in a dramatic five-setter over Turkey (26-24, 20-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-10) in Kaliningrad on Sunday.
Russia's win means they were a perfect three out of three at the home tournament in Kaliningrad and helps them extend their winning FIVB World Grand Prix streak against Turkey to four in a row.
Russia dominated over Turkey early on in the first set in all aspects of the game thanks mostly to the spikes of Yana Shcherban and Kseniia Ilchenko. A great down-the-line smash from Nataliya Goncharova gave Russia a 23-21 lead, but Turkey quickly regrouped to tie the set at 24-all. It was all they could do, though, as Russia grabbed the following two points, and the opening set, 26-24.
At the beginning of the second set the towering block of Akman Kubra helped Turkey win five points in a row and go 8-6 up. The set was tied until 19-all when Turkey's serve kicked in leading them to a confident 25-20 victory.
The third set saw more of Turkey's consistent form as they quickly raced away to a 10-3 lead. The Russian team looked a bit deflated and they never put up a fight in the set eventually losing 25-20.
The local fans were delighted to see Russia regain momentum as they went 16-7 up in the following set. A few key substitutions by the Turkish coach, Ferhat Akbas, allowed his team to close down the gap, but one of Goncharova's many powerful spikes of the night ended the set at 25-20.
The tiebreak saw both teams exchange blows until 8-all. More booming attacks from Yana Shcherban and Nataliya Goncharova put Russia 12-9 in front. The host side never looked back as they took the set, 15-10.
Russia's top scorer of the match was Nataliya Goncharova with 19 points, while on the other side of the net, both Polen Uslupehlivan and Hande Blandin scored 23 points.