Coming off a disappointing loss against the Italians on the opening day of the 2013 FIVB Men's Grand Champions Cup, Russia looked for a better effort against host Japan.
Historically, Russia has dominated head-to-head volleyball competition with Japan, winning 56 of 66 total contests. This match was no different, as the Russians made short work of the host Japan team, winning 25-16, 25-17, 25-18 at Kyoto Prefectural Gymnasium.
Russia was led by Dmitriy Ilinykh who scored 12 points in the victory, including three blocks. He was supported by Alexey Spiridonov with 10, who won the player of the match award. Leading all scorers was Japan's Kunihiro Shimizu, who scored 14 for Japan. Russia out-blocked the host team 15-5.