Zenit downs Stade Poitevin to book spot for Playoffs 6
Zenit opened strongly with great serving provided by Nikolay Apalikov and a terrific 7:1 break to set the tone of the game. Evgeny Sivozhelez stood out in attack through the complete set while the top scorer of Stade Poitevin so far in the league, Milos Culafic, made many mistakes. Zenit dominated the scene in all fundamentals and after moving the score to a massive 22:8, the final 25-12 was quickly stamped on the scoreboard.
The score stayed extremely close in the second set up to a tie at 21 all but after that the guests from France were severely sidelined by their many errors, while Zenit played well in defense and Yury Berezhko wrapped it up at 25-23.
Stade Poitevin scored only one block in three sets and this is a good demonstration that this side could not do much to stop the Russian spikers. After moving up 14:8, Zenit kept control of the operations and an ace of Valerio Vermiglio eventually booked the ticket to the Playoffs 6. Maxim Mikhaylov paced Zenit KAZAN with 16 points.
“The trip to Kazan was really long and tiring” says Stade Poitevin head coach Olivier Lecat. “This fatigue certainly affected our performance. Our reception was really poor tonight. I wish Zenit all the best for the next rounds of the competition; in my opinion they have good chances to take the trophy”.
“We were in a good shape and all the players did stick to the plans we had agreed upon before the match” adds Zenit mentor Vladimir Alekno. “They played with glowing hearts and I am happy with the attitude they showed”.
