'We didn't lose to Georgia', Russian insists
In a tense post-match press conference, Russia's Natalia Uryadova expressed impatience with the political hoopla surrounding the Russia-Georgia clash, which came amid the charged backdrop of bloody military conflict between the two neighbours.
"We were not actually playing against the Georgian team. We were playing against our Brazilian friends here," Uryadova said.
Her comments came after she and teammate Alexandra Shiryaeva lost to Georgia's Andrezza Chagas and Cristine Santanna.
Asked whether the war back home had affected the two teams' performance, she said: "If they were Georgian they certainly would be influenced but they are not (Georgian)."
Although both teams were 0-2 coming in and seeded just 22nd and 15th, respectively, the contest between the Georgians and Russians had taken on a symbolic significance due to the bloody conflict between the two neighbours.
Russian forces poured into Georgia last week after the Georgian army launched an offensive to regain control of South Ossetia, the Moscow-backed region which broke away from Tbilisi in the early 1990s.
Chagas and Santanna are actually Brazilian by birth but recently obtained Georgian citizenship.
They are competing under the Georgian names of Rtvelo and Saka, respectively, which, when combined, form the Georgian-language name for that country.
Uryadova's comments prompted a retort from Santanna.
"I feel like a Georgian. I have a Georgian passport and a Brazilian passport. We have fought for the past two years to be here as one of the 24 teams," she said.
"I don't want this to be a war between us. I appreciate them and respect them as players."
There was little hint of the rancour before or during the match.
After shaking hands with the Russians from opposite sides of the volleyball net, Chagas and Santanna crossed under it to embrace their opponents before the play began.