Sensible losses of Mikhailov and Abaev: “Zenit-Kazan” again yielded to “Dynamo” in Moscow

A month later “Dynamo” and “Zenit-Kazan” again met in a head-to-head confrontation

Slightly less than a month has passed since the last confrontation between Moscow's “Dynamo” and “Zenit-Kazan.” On October 10 the teams met in the semifinal of the Legends Cup. Then the charges of Konstantin Bryansky won an emphatic victory in three sets. However in that game one must give their due to the volleyball players of “Zenit-Kazan” — they fought against the current champion of the Super League with dignity. And all three sets of the semifinal turned out nervous, equal in struggle and tension.

By the head-to-head confrontation a month later “Zenit-Kazan” and “Dynamo” approached with one defeat each for each of the teams. On October 27 the Muscovites lost to “Belogorye” (1:3), and “Zenit-Kazan” on October 28 was defeated in St. Petersburg by the “Zenit” of Vladimir Alekno (2:3).

Contrary to skeptical forecasts the team of Alexey Verbov is confidently conducting the start of the regular championship. “Zenit-Kazan” looks like a cohesive collective capable of defeating the giants of the Super League even taking into account considerable personnel losses in the off-season.

Without Mikhailov and Abaev in the lineup “Zenit-Kazan” did not succeed in the comeback in the match with “Dynamo”

In the match with “Dynamo” the Tatarstan team was very close to taking the meeting to the decisive fifth set. Having played the first two sets unsuccessfully (22:25, 18:25), the charges of Alexey Verbov pulled themselves together and bit out the third set important for themselves, winning it with a score of 27:25. The emotional upsurge from the nearby hovering comeback, without question, encouraged the volleyball players of “Zenit-Kazan.” The start of the fourth set turned out impressive for the guests — 5:1. And, as a rule, an advantage of four points is rarely lost in a set, especially within the framework of a battle of top teams.

Probably it was precisely in the decisive set that the absence of the most important setter of “Zenit-Kazan," Konstantin Abaev, told. As became known earlier, the player was diagnosed with a broken finger, therefore in the coming month he will by no means be able to help his team. Besides, the captain of “Zenit-Kazan," Maxim Mikhailov, also did not participate in the match. At “Dynamo," on the contrary, Maxim Sapozhkov returned to the lineup after a back injury.

The depth of the bench at “Zenit-Kazan” leaves much to be desired, abounding in young talents but at the same time only promising, inexperienced volleyball players. And the injuries of Mikhailov and Abaev only aggravated the position of the guest team. Against the background of the Tatarstan team's roster the strength of the “Dynamo” roster catches the eye. With Konstantin Bryansky there is always the possibility during the match to bring out a strong player from the bench.

It was precisely the lack of a reserve of strength that in fact predetermined the defeat of “Zenit-Kazan” in the fourth set. The guests approached the denouement of the set with a three-point advantage — 19:16. However in the ending of the set Dmitry Volkov turned on in a fantastic way, who with a series of successful attempts in attacks neutralized the lag of “Dynamo” and scored in total over the match 21 points for scoring, sending, so to speak, greetings to his “former” team. In the most important minutes of the match the reception at “Zenit-Kazan” was simply switched off, however the libero Ilya Fedorov tried. The final point in the fourth set was set by Denis Bogdan with brilliant finishing shots in the attack.

“Very glad that we won, the team is great!”

— On the court played very worthy teams, and the result 3:1 does not convey the whole tension of the match. For two sets it was visible that the opponent adapted, although we were quite decently pressed on the serve, and here I want to thank the team for the fact that they withstood and won these sets. The nervous ending of the third set passed into the beginning of the fourth, but again thanks to teamwork we managed to win the decisive set. Of course, the match was not simple; we played against the vice-champions. All of us know that “Zenit-Kazan” is seriously staffed. A strong serve, which we could not cope with. Work must begin with this in the near future, but otherwise I am very glad that we won, the team is great! I think that everything was decided by reception-serve. Somewhere we began to score on high balls, to serve and receive better. At the beginning of the fourth set this did not succeed. Then we adjusted the serve, went ahead, scored a couple of “lucky” balls and won, assessed the results of the meeting the head coach of “Dynamo," Konstantin Bryansky.

“Zenit-Kazan” again showed its teeth in the match with the current champion. Nevertheless, in order to defeat the strongest team of the Super League by this hour, the Tatarstan team objectively lacks class and mastery. The next home match “Zenit-Kazan” will play on November 12 against “Yaroslavich.” The start of the game at 19:00.

Russian championship. 6th round

“Dynamo (Moscow)" — “Zenit-Kazan” — 3:1 (25:22, 25:18, 25:27, 25:23)
November 8. “Dynamo” Arena. Referees Gusev (St. Petersburg), Chumak (Novosibirsk).
“Dynamo”: Pankov (4), Volkov (22), Vlasov (6), Sapozhkov (10), Bogdan (16), Zhuk (7) — starting six, Baranov (libero), Tyushkevich (0), Semyshev (0).
“Zenit-Kazan”: Vyshnikov (4), Labinsky (11), Romanovsky (4), Khlyakin (19), Davyskiba (17), Kononov (8) — starting six, Fedorov (libero), Shelepa (0), Kapranov (1).
Points — 100:90, serve — 10:9, attack — 42:48, block — 13:7, reception — 34%:41%, errors — 26:35.