The first phase of the men’s and women’s 2021 Russian Volleyball Cup ended – the 12 teams per gender qualified for the second round, while Saint Petersburg was chosen to host the Final Four for both genders.
The massive preliminary round of the Russian Cup is over and 12 teams booked their places in the second round that precedes Final Four. Actually, not all teams qualified to the next stage via the preliminary round. Some spots in the second stage were predetermined by regulations: the clubs that had at least three players in the Russia National Team engaged in the VNL, the Olympics, or in EuroVolley had the guaranteed passage, taking the opportunity to send teams filled with backups to the matches of the preliminary stage, hence some defeats of favorites.
Group winners of the second phase plus hosts (Zenit St. Petersburg for men and Leningradka for women) will secure spots in F4.
Men
Pool A: Dinamo Moscow, Ural, Yugra-Samotlor, and ASK;
Pool B: Lokomotiv, Fakel, Enisey, and Belogorie;
Pool C: Kuzbass, Zenit-Kazan, Dinamo-LO, and Neftyanik.
Women
Pool A: Lokomotiv, Proton, Dinamo Krasnodar, and freshman Cherepovets;
Pool B: Dinamo Moscow, Minchanka Minsk, Lipetsk, and Dinamo-Metar;
Pool C: Dinamo Ak-Bars, Uralochka, Tulitsa, and Sparta.
