Russia completed their sweep of the first round with a 3-0 win over Cuba in the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup at the Yoyogi National Stadium on Thursday
Nataliya Obmochaeva scored 16 points to lead Russia to its fifth straight win in the tournament and top the Site A and overall rankings. Alexandra Pasynkova added 10 more points for the Russian victory, while Cubans Alena Rojas Orta and Sulian Caridad Matienzo Linares finished with nine and eight points, respectively.
Russia had a sluggish start that allowed Cuba to lead 8-6 in the first technical timeout. As Nataliya Obmochaeva got her attack game going, the Cubans, on the other hand, experienced a scoring slump that shifted the momentum to the opposing side. Russia finished the first set 25-19 with 12 attacks, while Cuba scored on eight blocks.
Russia continued on their attack spree in the second set, while Cuba still struggled to convert their attacks to points. The Russian defence toughened up that resulted to a convincing 25-13 win in the second set. Russia sustained their momentum from the first two sets that saw their attackers putting on more pressure on the Cuba blockers. Although Russia encountered on two plays to close the set, they still managed to end the set in their favour 25-18.