RUS M: The champions live in Kazan! Zenit defended the crown!

Zenit

SET 1

Mostly thanks to unstoppable Wilfredo Leon, Zenit escaped to 17:13 and it looked like the home team will seize the first set quite easily. But, there was a true drama on the way. Belogorie firstly approached to 20:19, however then the away team made a service mistake – 21:19, while in the next play Zenit’s block did the job – 22:19. And when Georgy Grozer sent the ball out of bounds, Zenit had three set points – 24:21! They failed to use any of them, or better to say – Belogorie saved all of them.

The Belgorod crew firstly scored for 24:22, and then they blocked Leon twice in a row – 24:24! Zenit missed two more set points, 25:25, 26:26… But then Maxim Mikhailov finished this set. He firstly made a great spike for 27:26, while a moment later he converted a counter-attack into point with one more powerful “kill” – 28:26, 1-0 for Zenit!

SET 2

The second set was completely one-sided… Zenit simly dominated. The Kazan boys had 8:5 at the first TTO and then they continued to increase the margin. It was 12:8, 14:9, 16:10… Maxim Mikhailov was the main star on the court in those moments. Belogorie did try to make a late comeback, but all the efforts were in vain. The away team missed the last chance at the score 21:18, when Sergey Tetyukhin had a counter-attack… He failed to score, and Leon punished it – 22:18. Evgeniy Sivozhelez ended the second set with a great pipe attack – 25:20, 2-0 for Zenit.

SET 3

It was – win the set or lose the championship for Belogorie. And, the Belgorod powerhouse chose the first option. They opened the third set with 5:1 lead, but Zenit approached to 7:5 when a minor incident occurred. Alexey Verbov and Dragan Travica had an argue, and the Russian libero even pulled the Italian for a jersey… However Gennadiy Shiipulin, the head coach of Belogorie calmed the situation.

The game continued and Zenit tied the score at 10:10… It was time for another rush of the away team. Belogorie escaped to 16:12, but then things changed entirely. With several great blocks Zenit scored 5 points in a row and took over the lead – 17:16!!! The home team was in front until 18:18, then Sergey Tetyukhin went on a service line. He had three fantastic serves, and Belogorie scored every time – 21:18! Finally, Dmitriy Muserskiy made sure that the away team seize the set. Excellent middle blocker made three consecutive blocks and led Belgorie from 22:20 to 25:20! 2-1 in sets!

SET 4

If we wrote that Zenit dominated in the second set, then the fourth set had Belogorie’s mark on it. Georgiy Grozer opened it with several strong spikes, while then Sergey Tetyuhin took over the leading role… The outcome – 14:8 for the away team! And when Belgorod side increased the margin to 19:12 it was clear that this game was going into the tie-break. The final score of the 4^th set – 25:18, it was 2-2!

SET 5

Title for Zenit or Game 5 in Belgorod? Wait a second for the answer. Zenit opened the tie-break with great serves, especially from Sivozhelez. Therefore Belogorie could not make a perfect reception, so there were many mistakes from spikes… Look at the scoreboard – 6:1 for Zenit! The margin remained the same until 9:4 and then Wilfredo Leon made an ace – 10:4! It was over. Maxim Mihkailov only gave the final touch to the championship title with a strong spike for 15:8. Zenit has become the champion of Russia for the 7^th time in club’s history!

PLAY OFF – FINAL / FINAL – 1ST PLACE MATCH /

To see standings, stats, videos, photos etc. from this competition click on RUS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP M 2014/2015.

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