Stopped in step
The match began with ace Nikishin, continued by ace Shakhbanmirzaev, and from the mark 7:7 hosts sped up 12:7. This impression, that Zenit did not expect such a vigorous start from Gazprom-Ugra. When the score after Poletaev's attack out-of-bounds became 17:11, there was already obvious confusion in the guests' actions. One episode turned the game upside down - Nikishin did not score a challenge ball, hitting Brizar's block, 18:13. And the ball immediately flew the other way: Chereysky began to "push up", make mistakes Rukavishnikov, knock on the Nikishin block - 19:19 on aggressive serves Yakovlev. But the owners managed to put the squeeze on the ending, Nikishin knocked out ace, Kostylenko performed well in the attack, 24:21 and coasting through the attack of Shakhbanmirzaev, Gazprom-Yugra finished first, 25:23.
In the second set, Rukavishnikov first did not go well with Dovgan, then Shakhbanmirzaev "broke", 3:9. Kirill Ursov actively watered the former team with attacks, and Surgut mostly scored points on the opponent's mistakes when serving. By the middle of the set, everything became completely clear, and Rafael Khabibullin let the youth play: Kirillov, Voronchikhin, Stradomsky, who on the eve in the game for the youth team beat just the double of St. Petersburg "Zenith". There was nothing they could do about it, 15:25.
In the third set, the hosts did their homework and did not let the opponent go far. "Zenith" bite off the breaks with great difficulty, but bit off, leading 1-2 points. Poletaev played out in St. Petersburg, but Brizar did not forget about the centers with good debugging. Nevertheless, 12:12 on the board, protracted rally and a missed opportunity to come out ahead of Gazprom-Yugra. Ursov immediately draws up an ace, and punishes Kluk for an unsuccessful pipe with a discount, 12:15. Chase again, again a gap of one point and ... Kostylenko hits the ball into touch ... 17:20. Nevertheless, on excellent feeds from Stradomsky the hosts "rise from the dead" again, 20:20. Poletaev and Shakhbanmirzaev's block solve the stubborn ending, 24:26.
In the fourth game, the hosts have already taken the lead and keep the opponent at a distance of 1-2 points. The "wave", magnificent in design and execution, ends with the removal of Kostylenko on the descending block, 9:6. Ace Shahbanmirzaeva, 11:7 and Sammelvuo is forced to take time out. Poletaev comes to the rescue again - not a time-out can stop his series of powerful innings., no pause due to watching. A second tactical preview helps, taken at random - the ball flies into the net, 15:14. An equal game ends with three points, which Zenit takes in the fight, 17:20. After the time-out of Surgutyans, Chanchikov pulls out Klyuki's discount in a desperate jump, Kostylenko thanks the libero with a block blow.
With the score 19:22 instead of Chereisky, Fialkovsky came out to serve and pushed Zenit's reception away from the net. Poletaev rained down on emergency balls, Ursov also buried himself in the block and Gazprom-Yugra is already ahead 23:22. Further more, Poletaev again fails to put the emergency ball into the court, 24:22. Now the hosts have all the chances to transfer the match to a tie-break. Ursov is finally removed from the filing of Fialkovsky, Kostylenko suddenly disrupts Filippov's glider reception, Dovganya closes the block and another long rally ends with Ursov's attack from the block to touch, 24:26. Zenit saved three points at the last moment, and Surgut, seem to be, believed early, what five games will play today.
Head coach of VC Zenit (St. Petersburg) Tuomas Sammelvio: Surgut always plays well at home. Very emotional team, plays well in defense, we knew it very well. Today we really need a result, and it blocks us a little. So I am very happy, what we won. We need to play better offensively and receiving, you need to clean up minor mistakes, these are the touches of the grid, less error on serve, although she flew well today. But for today the main thing is that we won. We are waiting for Pashitsky, look, how Camejo will recover, Klyuka returns step by step.
Captain VC "Zenith" (St. Petersburg) Ivan Yakovlev: When we were tuning into the game, knew, that Surgut always plays well at home. That this is a very emotional team, and in the first game it started. We made them feel their game, what they used and took the set from us. Then we tried to change the course of the game and we succeeded. In the fourth game, we again began to make a lot of mistakes and made the opponent feel confident., who fought to the last. I'm happy, that we could still win. Surgut surprised by the spirit of struggle, the team fought selflessly for every ball and played with dignity.
Anton Malyshev, senior coach at Gazprom-Yugra: There is progress in the game, but the result is offensive. Loss of concentration in the endings gives this result..
1 : 3 
Zenith (St. Petersburg)Details
| Date | Time | Championship |
|---|---|---|
| 11.12.2020 | 19:00 | CR 2020-2021 |
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | GENERAL. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gazprom-Yugra (Surgut) | 25 | 15 | 24 | 24 | 1 |
| Zenith (St. Petersburg) | 23 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 3 |
Gazprom-Yugra (Surgut)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | S | K | E | FACING | B | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Zenith (St. Petersburg)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | S | K | E | FACING | B | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
