Kazan “Zenit” eliminated the leader of the championship. This loss is Fakel’s first this season.

Kazan “Zenit” eliminated the leader of the championship. This loss is Fakel’s first this season.

Elena Kovalenko November 22, 2023, 23:45 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.

Alexey Verbov’s team met the opponent in three sets.

In the key match of matchday 7 of the Men’s Volleyball Super League, the current national champion Zenit Kazan faced off against Fakel from Novy Urengoy, who leads the standings after six weeks of play.

Undefeated streak

The guests arrived in Kazan as the undisputed leaders of the championship. Roman Empolov’s team won all six games at the beginning of the season and was the only one that did not know the bitterness of defeat. “Fakel” repeated his best result of the 2018/2019 season in terms of length of winning streak. However, it is worth mentioning that the Novy Urengoy team at the beginning of the championship did not play against the best rivals. Zenit is the first in the initial segment.

Alexey Verbov’s team, with an excellent selection of players and a variable bench, before the seventh round was only in sixth place. Zenit did not show its best game against Novosibirsk Lokomotiv (0-3) and in the volleyball classic they lost to Belogorye (1-3). But in the last round the team redeemed itself and defeated Dynamo from Sosnovy Bor 3:0. The victory in this match allowed us to get closer to the top three.

How powerful the “Russian Volleyball Classics” turned out to be:

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The Zenit coach left one of the team’s main forwards, Maxim Mikhailov, in reserve. In his place, Kirill Klets appeared on the court, who had an excellent match against Dynamo-LO. And the guests returned to the court without Vladislav Babkevich, who suffered damage to his abdominal muscles before the match against Novaya. Also in the team hospital were experienced point guard Sergei Grankin and finisher Vadim Yutskevich.

Zenit triumphs in almost everything

From the first plays, the home team took the initiative and the visitors had to catch up. With Mikey Christenson’s serve, Zenit took a 3:1 lead. But “Fakel” responded in the same way to the locals with the service of Evgeniy Sivozhelez (3:3). Kazan volleyball players dominated the entire game on the block, each time stopping the attacks of Novy Urengoy’s wingers. Empolov’s rest did not help the guests get back into the game. After him, Alexey Kononov immediately requested removal. Vitaly Dikarev scored effective attacks in the center of the net. Kazan’s Dmitry Volkov played excellently in attack, surprising his former club time and time again. And Kirill Klets scored the point in the first game after an attack from the defensive line (25:16).

Kirill Klets

Photo: https://vk.com/volleyzenit

In the second set, “Fakel” had a diagonal change: Korney Enns entered the court instead of Nikita Morozov. But this did not change the design of the game in any way. The Kazan team once again had a great start to the game: 6-2. Zenit demonstrated an excellent blocking game, preventing Fakel’s attackers from entering either the edges or the center of the net. Only Evgeniy Sivozhelez found loopholes and time and again brought points to the team in attack.

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Roman Empolov, after another “cover” from the Kazan team, tried to improve the situation with a break, but it was of no use: 4:10. Sivozhelez’s experience helped him see empty spaces in the opposing half, but that was not enough to get closer on the scoreboard (8:13). And the Kazan team accelerated the pace: Zenit’s lead increased to seven goals after a cross from Kirill Klets (18:11). At the end of the set, Alexey Verbov changed almost at six: Andrey Surmachevsky replaced Sam Dero, Mikhail Lobinsky replaced Dmitry Volkov and Roman Romanovsky returned. The players who came out did not disappoint and took the set to victory: 25:19.

Endurance. Useless

In the third game the situation changed. Now Zenit-Kazan had the role of catching up. Korney Enns had an excellent start to the match: 3:1. “Fakel” was in the lead, but not for long. The teams were on equal terms until the score was 6:6, and then Romanovsky intervened. First, he powerfully “charged” the visiting setter Mikhail Vyshnikov, and then, one on one, he covered Dikarev’s attack. In Fakel, Evgeniy Sivozhelez and Korney Enns scored productive actions. And Stanislav Dineykin, after an attack from the baseline, returned the intrigue to the match, reducing the difference to one goal: 17:16. But then Enns made two mistakes in a row: first he served and then he made a mistake in attack. The match ended with aces from Surmachevsky and Klets – 25:19. Zenit won 3:0.

Pari Super League – preliminary phase (m). 7th round

November 22, 2023, Wednesday. 19:00 Moscow time

Zenit-Kazan

Kazan

Torch

New Urengoy

Zenit-Kazan: Surmachevsky, Volvich, Dero, Rukavishnikov, Labinsky, Klets, Romanovsky, Christenson, Chanchikov, Kononov, Shcherbinin, Volkov, Fedorov, Mikhailov, Korneev, Khlyakin, Zhogov

Torch: Kazarinov, Dikarev, Frolov, Kovalchuk, Grankin, Babkevich, Dineykin, Sivozhelez, Danani, Melnikov, Ivanov, Andreev, Yutsevich, Krot, Bystrov, Petrushov, Kapranov, Vyshnikov, Morozov, Ishimbaev, Enns, Pipunyrov, Sidorenko

Zenit’s most productive player was Kirill Klets, who showed 83% in attack, converting 13 of 16 attacks, adding two points in a block and three aces to his statistics. The best among the guests is Stanislav Dineykin with 12 effective attacks (52% shots) and one ace.

The victory allowed Kazan to move up to fourth place. And the Yamal team lost first place in the standings and now completes the top three. Novosibirsk Lokomotiv now takes first place.

In the eighth round, “Fakel” will continue to “pass the test” of the teams at the top of the table: on the way they will face the winner of the Super Cup, Dynamo. And in the next match the Kazan team will play against ASK from Nizhny Novgorod.