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Russia improves to 4-1, USA drop to 1-4

UFA, Russia, June 8, 2019 - Defending champions Russia walked all over USA 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-15) Saturday evening as the 2019 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League continued across the globe.

Behind Victor Poletaev leading the scoring and Igor Philippov dealing with the blocking the Europeans claimed their fourth win in five matches. The Americans fell to 1-4.

Poletaev, Russia's 23-year-old opposite, scored 19 points, attacking for 62.5% (15/24) as the hosts dominated play on the net both in attacking efficiency and in blocking.

It was exactly there that 28-year-old middle blocker Philippov excelled, stopping the American attack five times out of a total 12 Russian blocks.

Benjamin Patch emerged as USA's best scorer on 13- points - the only American to go into double digits.

USA are still after their second win this season, having beaten only Australia on the opening weekend, and now stand at 1-4. However, regardless of their ranking in pool play, they're assured of a spot in the Final Six as hosts of the event in Chicago, 10-14 July.