Russia has defeated Bulgiaria in the Men's Indoor Volleyball Semifinals to earn a trip to the finals as they will compete for the gold meda. Led by Maxim Mikhaylov, the Russians were able to win in four sets 25-21, 25-15, 23-25, 25-23 .
Mikhaylov finished the match with 25 points. He had 21 spikes, 2 aces and 2 blocks. Taras Khtey followed in points scored as he tallied 13 with 12 spikes and 1 block.
This match had its close calls as it almost went the distance despite the Russians controlling the first two games.
The first set began with Russia getting on the scoreboard. Bulgaria then took control of the game as they went on an early 7-3 run after Russia's first score to take the 7-4 lead in the set. They maintained a three-point advantage until Russia scored consecutive points making it a 12-11 game. Bulgaria hushed their slight comeback by on a 5-2 run to take a four-point 17-13 lead.
The Russians turned it up going on a 4-0 run to tie the match and they carried the momentum until the end of the set as the finished on a 12-4 run to take the 1-0 match advantage.
The Russians took control early in the second set, jumping out to a 11-2 lead. The lead became too much for the Bulgarian team to come back from and they lost the set 15-25.
The third set began with bulgaria scoring first. They took an 11-8 lead after the first parts of the match were tight. They mainted their advantage until Russia tied the score up at 14. Russia then followed by taking a 16-15 lead, which the Bulgarians waived off as they scored three consecutive points for the 18-16 lead
Russia had the opportunity of taking the set as they lead 23-22, but Bulgaria stayed alive by winning the next three games, taking the set 25-23.
The fourth set was extremely tight the Russians did not lead until they took the 12-11 advantage halfway through the match. They tried putting up the match, but could not take advantage of this slight lead. Bulgaria rallied back to tie the match at 18 and 19, 20 and 21. WIth the game tied at 22, Russia went on a 3-0 run to put the match away and advance into the Men's Indoor Finals
