Zenit Kazan scored the ninth straight win in Superliga, closing the regular season with a 24-2 record and 72 points, going into playoff quarterfinals as No.1, which is the seed they secured earlier. They beat the namesakes from Saint Petersburg at home by a 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-22) with 16 points apiece from Cuban Wilfredo León and Maksim Mikhailov. The visitors played without three starters: Serbian Dražen Luburić, Cuban Oreol Camejo, and Aleksandr Volkov, who remained on the bench throughout the entire match.
The title favorites No.2 (21-5; 60 points) Belogorie Belgorod went to the game against Nova Novokuybishevska with only 9 players on the roster. The German Georg Grozer was not among them. And they lost by a 3-2 (25-14, 22-25, 25-21, 23-25, 16-14).
The Ukrainian Vadim Likhosherstov led Fakel Novy Urengoy to a 3-0 victory against Enisey Krasnoyarsk with 8 kill blocks!
Playoff quarterfinal bracket (best-of-three series):
No.1 Zenit Kazan vs. No.8 Nova Novokuybishevsk
No.2 Belogorie Belgorod vs. No.7 Kuzbass Kemerovo
No.3 Dinamo Moscow vs. No.6 Lokomotiv Novosibirsk
No.4 Fakel Novy Urengoy vs. No.5 Zenit Sankt-Peterburg
To see complete results, stats, and standings, visit our RUS National Championship 2017/2018 / Male / Seniors page.
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