YOKOHAMA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia was too good for a South Korea side without captain Kim Yeon-koung as the world no.5 breezed past the Asian Games bronze medalists 3-0 in one hour and a half.
Nataliya Goncharova had game-high 14 points and Irina Voronkova added 11 to Russia's 25-18, 29-27, 25-12 victory.
Kang Sohwi had nine points to lead South Korea, which rotated its starting line-up for less experienced players to have more chances.
"Today we did some different choices to let some other players to show what they can bring to the team. That is very important for us towards the Olympic qualification in January and we will keep doing this at the tournament," South Korea coach Stefano Lavarini explained on a press conference.
Even with 13 errors in the first set, Russia had an easy 25-18 win with its attackers on fire.
South Korea rounded into form after the restart, and the two sides exchanged lead in the second set. Kim Hee-ji led South Korea to save three set points, but Goncharova's spike killed the set 29-27.
Russia outpowered South Korea in attacks in the third set and headed into technical timeout with a 16-10 lead and eventually claimed the victory with a 5-0 run.
"We didn't have a very good reception against China and we worked in this direction. Today, we had good reception, which gave the opportunity to our captain and our setter to have good distribution. I'm very satisfied with the results," Russia coach Sergio Busato said.
Russia will play its last match in Yokohama against the Dominican Republic while South Korea clashes with Cameroon.
