Bari, Italy, September 14, 2018 – Maxim Mikhaylov and his teammates routed Tunisia in three sets to confirm their status of top favourites in Pool C. On Friday, Russia beat the reigning African champions 3-0 (25-19, 25-6, 25-19) as Mikhaylov top scored in the match, with “only” 11 points and a 70% success rate in attack, with Egor Kliuka adding 10 points to Russia’s tally.
Despite the 9 points scored by Hamza Nagga, Tunisia did not take any points from this match and they remain at the bottom of the pool standing with two losses in as many matches.
In the second match of the third competition day at PalaFlorio in Bari, Russia downed Tunisia 3-0. Coach Sergey Shliapnikov kept the usual lineup, except for the outside hitter Kliuka. The first part of the first set was a close affair, as long as Tunisia were able to keep their mistakes down to a minimum and to find a way through the Russian block. Nevertheless, thanks to their effective service, unpassable block and devastating attacks, the reigning European champions took control of the game, emerging victorious at 25-19.
The second and the third sets unfolded pretty much in the same way, even though Russia did not use Dmitry Muserskiy, Mikhaylov and Alexander Butko for quite a while. The substitutions made by head coach Antonio Giacobbe did not help the team from Tunisia. In the second set, Russia stormed to a landslide 25-6 win and despite further substitutions in the third one, Russia sealed a 25-19 win to claim a 3-0 victory.