Posted by Some selected statistics from the USA v RUS men’s match from day of the Olympics.
| USA | RUS | |
| SIDEOUT % | 68% | 69% |
| FIRST BALL SIDEOUT% | 43% | 36% |
| SIDEOUT – NEG RECEPTION | 6/15 | 10/18 |
| ATTACK – NEG RECEPTION | 2/15 | 7/18 |
| FREE BALLS WON | 8/15 | 7/9 |
| ACE% | 5% | 7% |
| SERVE ERROR% | 26% | 24% |
| TRANS ATT POINTS | 14/38 | 12/28 |
| BLOCK% | 5.1% | 6.3% |
DISCUSSION – In percentage terms, the teams were evenly matched. Sideout / breakpoint were similar, as were aces, serve errors and block. However, the raw numbers show some interesting differences. USA were able to sideout well on good reception but were not able to sideout well on bad reception (only 6/15). They created more negative receptions, ie by serving well, from Russia (18) but won only 8 of those rallies. They recieved more free balls and had more transition attacking opportunities, but were not able to score from those opportunities.
CONCLUSION – Serve reception battle was evenly matched. Russia won the out of system battle and the match.
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