2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic GamesAug 3, 2016 by Beverly Oden
2016 Olympics Rankings: #3 Russia (Men)
2016 Olympics Rankings: #3 Russia (Men)
The Russia men's volleyball team clocks in at No. 3 in our 2016 Olympics Rankings.
The FloVolleyball Olympics Rankings will count down to the start of the indoor volleyball competition in Rio by highlighting one team per gender each day. Today, three days before the first serve, we profile the No. 3-ranked Russia men and China women.
COUNTRY: Russia
TOP PLAYERS
Dmitriy Muserskiy, Middle Blocker
Third-best blocker World League; Russia's best scorer and blocker at World League and third-best server; Russia's best scorer, best spiker, second-best server and digger at World Cup
Sergey Grankin, Setter
Third-best setter at World League; Russia's third-best digger and fourth-best spiker at World Cup
Maxim Mikhaylov, Opposite
Russia's best server, second-best scorer and spiker, and fourth-best blocker and digger at World Cup
Victor Poletaev | 21 | Opposite
Sixth-best spiker World League, Russia's best spiker, second-best scorer and digger, and fifth-best blocker at World League
SYNOPSIS
Russia is the defending gold medalist, and leads the all-time medal count among men's volleyball teams. It has won 10 medals altogether: four gold (1964, 1968, 1980, 2012), three silver (1976, 1988, 2000), and three bronze (1972, 2004, 2008) -- which is more than twice as many as the next-most-decorated country, USA, which has four total medals.
The gold-medal match at the London Olympics in 2012 was one of the most exciting matches ever as No. 2-seeded Russia became the first team to win Olympic gold from an 0-2 deficit. It appeared as if No. 1 Brazil would roll to victory after winning the first two sets 25-19 and 25-20, but Russia came back to win the third set 29-27, and then caught fire after some gutsy coaching changes and went on to win the next two sets 25-22 and 15-9 to take the gold.
Brazil again enters the Olympics as the No. 1-ranked team, but we may not see a rematch in Rio. The Russians have had an up-and-down quad as they have not often been at full strength. Their big opposite Maxim Mikhaylov fought injury and missed World League this year. Mikhaylov was present when Russia earned a berth to Rio by winning the European qualifier, but key middle blocker Dmitriy Muserskiy missed that tournament.
This team won World League in 2013 and made the final round in 2014, but failed to advance to the medal round that year. In 2015, it did not make the final round at World League and finished fourth in World Cup. In this year's World League tournament, Russia finished with a 5-4 record--just one win short of the final round.
PREDICTION
Although Russia will be motivated to defend its gold medal, key injuries may hinder them. If healthy, the Russians should beat Egypt, Iran, Cuba and Argentina, and the match against Poland should be competitive. They will advance to the quarterfinal round and move on to the medal round. This team is capable of winning silver or bronze if it's running on all cylinders, but not if it isn't at full strength.
11. Egypt
10. Cuba
9. Canada
8. Argentina
6. Iran
5. Italy
COUNTRY: Russia
TOP PLAYERS
Dmitriy Muserskiy, Middle Blocker
Third-best blocker World League; Russia's best scorer and blocker at World League and third-best server; Russia's best scorer, best spiker, second-best server and digger at World Cup
Sergey Grankin, Setter
Third-best setter at World League; Russia's third-best digger and fourth-best spiker at World Cup
Maxim Mikhaylov, Opposite
Russia's best server, second-best scorer and spiker, and fourth-best blocker and digger at World Cup
RISING STAR TO WATCH
Victor Poletaev | 21 | Opposite
Sixth-best spiker World League, Russia's best spiker, second-best scorer and digger, and fifth-best blocker at World League
SYNOPSIS
Russia is the defending gold medalist, and leads the all-time medal count among men's volleyball teams. It has won 10 medals altogether: four gold (1964, 1968, 1980, 2012), three silver (1976, 1988, 2000), and three bronze (1972, 2004, 2008) -- which is more than twice as many as the next-most-decorated country, USA, which has four total medals.
The gold-medal match at the London Olympics in 2012 was one of the most exciting matches ever as No. 2-seeded Russia became the first team to win Olympic gold from an 0-2 deficit. It appeared as if No. 1 Brazil would roll to victory after winning the first two sets 25-19 and 25-20, but Russia came back to win the third set 29-27, and then caught fire after some gutsy coaching changes and went on to win the next two sets 25-22 and 15-9 to take the gold.
Brazil again enters the Olympics as the No. 1-ranked team, but we may not see a rematch in Rio. The Russians have had an up-and-down quad as they have not often been at full strength. Their big opposite Maxim Mikhaylov fought injury and missed World League this year. Mikhaylov was present when Russia earned a berth to Rio by winning the European qualifier, but key middle blocker Dmitriy Muserskiy missed that tournament.
This team won World League in 2013 and made the final round in 2014, but failed to advance to the medal round that year. In 2015, it did not make the final round at World League and finished fourth in World Cup. In this year's World League tournament, Russia finished with a 5-4 record--just one win short of the final round.
PREDICTION
Although Russia will be motivated to defend its gold medal, key injuries may hinder them. If healthy, the Russians should beat Egypt, Iran, Cuba and Argentina, and the match against Poland should be competitive. They will advance to the quarterfinal round and move on to the medal round. This team is capable of winning silver or bronze if it's running on all cylinders, but not if it isn't at full strength.
FloVolleyball Men's 2016 Olympics Rankings
12. Mexico
11. Egypt
10. Cuba
9. Canada
8. Argentina
7. France
6. Iran
5. Italy
4. USA
3. Russia
