The PARI Super League men’s volleyball semi-finals kicked off with high matches in Tula and Kazan.
In Tula, Zenit St. Petersburg edged past Belogorie Belgorod in a tight five-set battle (3:2), showing resilience in a nerve-wracking tie-break. Viktor Poletaev led the way with 21 points, while Belogorie’s Denis Chereisky scored 18. The rematch is set for April 5.
Meanwhile, in Kazan, defending champs Zenit-Kazan swept Dynamo-LO in straight sets (3:0). Dmitry Volkov’s serves and Sam Deru’s solid play made the difference. Dynamo, missing top scorer Pavel Avdochenko, couldn’t match Zenit’s rhythm. Game two takes place April 4.
- Belogorie Belgorod vs Zenit St. Petersburg 2:3 (23:25, 25:23, 25:21, 25:27, 13:15) – series 0-1
- Zenit-Kazan vs Dynamo-LO Sosnovy Bor 3:0 (25:23, 25:21, 25:18) – series 1-0