Verbov’s team topped the standings for the first time this season.
Zenit volleyball players defeated Lokomotiv on their court. The match between the leaders of the Russian Championship lasted almost two and a half hours, as the opponents fought desperately for each set. The Kazan team won with a score of 3:1, which allowed them to overtake their opponent in the standings in terms of game ratio (3.76 to 3.50).
How the snow apocalypse in the capital of Tatarstan affected the teams, how the Bulgarian newcomer made his debut for Lokomotiv Denis Karyagin and who will make up a pair of diagonal “Zenith” next season – in the material “BO Sport”.
Maxim Mikhailov / photo: Roman Kruchinin, zenit-kazan.com
“The previous club did not allow Karyagin to train”
The December semi-final match of the Russian Cup between Zenit and Lokomotiv almost attracted a full house at the 5,000-seat Volleyball Center, but some sectors were not even opened for the current meeting. Nevertheless, the coaches and players of the Kazan team thanked the fans after the match and were surprised at how many of them came, given the weather conditions. The city has literally been covered in snow in recent days: motorists cannot leave their yards, and pedestrians are making their way through the snowdrifts.
“This is the craziest weather I’ve ever experienced! So much snow is beautiful, but only if you don’t need to go somewhere. “I would like to take a walk around the city or in the forest,” admitted the American setter of Zenit. Mother Christensenwho flew to his native Hawaiian Islands for the New Year.
The snow apocalypse in Kazan also affected Lokomotiv. The team arrived on Saturday morning with a 12-hour delay. The flight from Novosibirsk was postponed several times due to poor weather conditions for landing at the Kazan airport. The volleyball players waited in the terminal for a long time and then moved to the hotel. “We didn’t manage to sleep, but at least we took a horizontal position,” noted the Loko captain Ilyas Kurkaev. According to him, the story of the delay did not affect the team’s game.
But the injury took its toll Omara Kurbanova. One of the main finishers suffered an injury to his abdominal muscles in the previous match against Novaya. In this situation, the coach of the Novosibirsk team Plamen Konstantinov chose not to exhibit Sergei Savin or Alexandra Kostadinovaand throw a newcomer into battle Denis Karyagin, who joined Lokomotiv’s roster less than a week ago. He started in the starting line-up along with his Bulgarian teammate Martin Atanasov.
The debut in the Russian Championship for Karyagin turned out to be ambiguous: on the one hand, he, together with Ilya Kazachenkov became the team’s top scorer in the match, but on the other hand, 16 points scored were almost erased by 15 lost goals. He was often knocked out of the reception, and he himself almost did not serve – 6 losses in 8 attempts.
“It is clear that Karyagin is not ready. French club [«Тулуза»] After we agreed on the transfer, I didn’t let him train so that he wouldn’t suddenly get injured. In the first game we threw it directly against Kazan. It wasn’t easy for him,” Konstantinov said.
Denis Karyagin / photo: Alexander Lukin, lokovolley.com
Mikhailov and Klets will remain for the next season
Lokomotiv’s serving in the first two games was a disaster – 22 (12+10) errors! Plamen said many of them were unjustified. Despite this, the team reached equal endings, which they lost with the same score of 23:25.
The thing is that Kazan looked unconvincing in attack. Luckily for Zenit, in each of the games there was a player on the team who was on fire. In the opening set it was Sam Deru. Two of his blocks diagonally “Lokomotiv” Ilya Kazachenkov and a service ace to Karyagin (18:14) gave a good margin for the ending, which the Belgian himself completed with an accurate attack. He scored 6 points during the period, 5 of which were break points. This is what it means to make a difference. In the second game Deru was lost, but the diagonal raged Maxim Mikhailov – 7 and 7 in attack. He won the ending with two feints.
After three games, the Zenit legend had crazy statistics – 71% of attacks (15/21) without a single lost goal. They found control over him only in the fourth set. This season, 35-year-old Mikhailov is adapting to a new role. He no longer plays without substitutions, as has been the case since his arrival at the Kazan club in 2010. With signing Kirill I’m squatting The Olympic champion has a lot of time for rest and recovery. In addition, there is no longer a huge burden of responsibility on his shoulders, since there is a worthy replacement who can come out and help.
But in the most important matches, Maxim is still playing in such a way that there is no need to change him. In the last two matches with his main rivals – Dynamo and Lokomotiv – he showed his highest class. There is an opinion that Mikhailov and Klets are cramped in the same team, but Verbov manages to find such a balance of playing time so that no one gets soured in the reserves.
According to BO Sport, next season Zenit will again have Mikhailov and Klets in the diagonal line. There were rumors that the club might part with one of them, but in the end, Zenit decided to keep both volleyball players, who form the strongest pair of diagonal players in the Super League.
Who didn’t find his game on Sunday evening is Dmitry Volkov. Changed it twice Mikhail Labinsky. In the third set, the 20-year-old finisher with an ace helped Zenit complete the long chase against Lokomotiv. And then Karyagin couldn’t cope with the glider Artyom Volvich – 23:22. Everything was going towards a “dry” victory for the Kazan team, but the central guests Dmitry Lyzik I categorically disagreed with this: first he scored at the first pace and equalized the score (27:27), then with a powerful serve to Deru he gave the passing ball to Atanasov and immediately served it into the very corner of the court.
Kazachenkov, Lyzik and Savin on the block / photo: lokovolley.com
“We are lying on the sofa at home – the most important thing is to put on a “courageous” uniform”
In the fourth set, the guests were on fire for 14:20, but even in this case, Lyzik brought the team back into the fight with two aces in a row. And then Karyagin blocked two attacks in a row from Mikhailov, for whom Christenson slightly underestimated the passes – 21:21. Zenit was again helped by the replacement of Labinsky, who strengthened the attack. And another young player Novel Romanovsky On match point, he softened Lyzik’s attack, and Deru scored a pipe in a counterattack – 28:26.
“It was hard to stay on our feet in a situation where we lost such a big lead in the fourth set. It’s good that fresh blood helped. Misha Labinsky came out and scored several important goals. Despite his age, he is very stress-resistant. He is our future,” Verbov said after the match.
The Kazan coach noted that the audience probably liked the fight, but at the same time complained about the low quality of play from both teams – the opponents played “dirty” and made a lot of mistakes. Lokomotiv finished the match with 35 (!) service errors.
“There is a tendency that against Kazan you don’t serve very well, you give a little attack and block – and it’s hard for them too. And we want to jump out of our pants, we start to hammer hard, come up with something – in the end we lose a lot of points. As soon as we play simpler, everything falls into place, there is a chance to win,” Kurkaev said.
The players of Kazan “Rubin” won several matches in a row this season wearing green uniforms – and they no longer want to take them off. Zenit volleyball players also have a favorite uniform. She appeared before last season’s playoffs. The “courage” kit in red and blue colors, unusual for the team, was intended as an alternative, but gradually became the main one, because the players really liked it. By the way, Zenit does not lose in it: 13 matches – 13 wins.
Artyom Volvich / photo: Roman Kruchinin, zenit-kazan.com
“Of course, it’s all about form. We don’t train, we lie on the couch at home. The most important thing is to wear a “courageous” uniform. We don’t even wash it,” Kazan captain Volvich ironically answered a humorous question.
Zenit’s total winning streak in all tournaments now also amounts to 13 matches – it began on November 29. Two consecutive victories over direct competitors allowed the Kazan team to climb to first place, which gives home-court advantage in all rounds of the playoffs. However, there is an even greater distance to the finish of the regular season – 12 matches. Verbov’s team will play the next match in Sosnovy Bor, and Lokomotiv will host Dynamo.
Russian championship. 18th round
Zenit-Kazan – Lokomotiv (Novosibirsk) – 3:1 (25:23, 25:23, 27:29, 28:26)
January 21. Kazan. “Volleyball center. Judge Ryabtsov (Kostroma).
Zenit-Kazan: Deru (20), Romanovsky (2), Christenson (4), Volkov (8), Kononov (2), Mikhailov (18) – startFedorov (libero), Volvich (4), Labinsky (5), Surmachevsky (0).
Locomotive: Abaev (2), Atanasov (11), Lyzik (16), Kazachenkov (14), Karyagin (16), Kurkaev (10) – startMelkozerov (libero), Tisevich (0), Savin (0).
Points – 105:101, serve – 7:6, attack – 49:55, block – 7:8, reception – 39%:45%, errors – 32:42.
2024-01-21 23:30:00
#jump #pants #play #easier #ZenitKazan #lead #Lokomotiv
