Not more neighborly
Yugra-Samotlor (Nizhnevartovsk): Bagrey – Nikkel, Aksyutin - Militsky, Kassel – Kulygin, Davletshin/Mellis
"Gazprom-Ugra" (Surgut): Ozhiganov - Alekseev, Katich - Korotaev, Krsmanovich - Shevlyakov, Obmochaev/Nagaets
Shevlyakov scored the first point in the match, throwing away the passing ball after Krsmanovic's serve. Then the Surgut team picked up two more breaks on Ozhiganov’s shortened serves – 4:1. Who would have thought, that the Surgut setter’s serves will become the main stumbling block for the hosts in the future! In the meantime, Samotlor leveled the game and was a step or two behind the mark 14:13, when Nikkel equalized with an ace. The hosts took the lead, closing Alekseev in the fourth zone (17:18) and increased the lead, picking up another attack from Nikita and finishing the game through Aksyutin, 18:20.
A Gazprom-Yugra timeout followed, after which Nikkel made a single block to Katich, 18:21. Surgut residents have leveled the situation, but after a powerful serve from Kassel, Kulygin scored a passing ball, 21:23. Two throw-outs from the Vartov team helped us score two more points, but in the attack Nikkel and Aksyutin held the charge - 23:25.
In the second set, Rudnev appeared on the court instead of Alekseev. At the start we again go ahead due to two blocks on Nikkel, 5:2. And again we lose our advantage, 5:5. Katic continues to knock on the block, Nikkel converts the final game, 8:9, and then the expected pass to Krsmanovic leads him into the hands of Kassel, 8:10. Kirillov comes onto the court instead of Ozhiganov, and the hosts take another break after a long rally, 9:12.
Katic begins his rehabilitation with a four-by-four attack on a difficult ball, 14:15. Bloc to Aksyutin equalizes the balance, 16:16, but in the end the hosts again gain a break advantage due to Nikkel’s activity, 19:21. “Samotlor” plays relaxed, and it’s time for the residents of Surgut to show their character - which is what they are doing. At first Kostrov “helped”, replaced Militsky, at the end of the next valid play, he threw the ball into touch with both hands without blocking, 21:21. Then Katic grabs the same Kostrov with a single block, 22:21. Militsky returns to the set and films, and Krsmanovich brings a set point to Gazprom-Yugra, which hung on the block and returned Nikkel's discount to the owners, 22:24. Super League debutant Syropyatov is filming, but Rudnev brings victory to the guests on the second attempt, 23:25.
The third set ended for Ugra-Samotlor on Ozhiganov’s serves. Our setter entered the sector at the count 3:1 and left for 10:1. Vadim tormented his opponent with a variable serve, looking for, mainly, Aksyutina, and a reliable block brought Gazprom-Yugra either direct points, or additional games. A double substitution with a time-out did not help Samotlor either., after which Ozhiganov first forced Tolok to send the ball into touch with his first touch on the court, and then hit a clean power ace. The hosts did not really recover from such a blow., although they continued to show emotions with every successful play and did their best to prepare themselves for further struggle. A curiosity of the match - Ozhiganov, when leaving the baseline, blocked Kassel without jumping, trying to hit a passing ball three meters, 23:13. Skvortsov appeared at the finish line in the fourth zone and put the winning point, 25:14.
In the fourth set, the hosts again had maximum problems on Ozhiganov’s serves.. Two breaks at the beginning of the set, 4:1. This time the Vartovites got hooked and didn’t let go of the guests., 8:8. Our servers continue to look for Aksyutin with the glider and it works - Krsmanovich scores an ace, 10:8. Then he gives out another series of Ozhiganov - 14:9. Another shot down by Aksyutin drives him behind the antenna and into the block, 16:10. "Samotlor" again makes a double substitution, which leads to an error in the arrangement, 17:10. All? Not a bit of it. Aksyutin is good in attack, and two mistakes by Rudnev reduce the distance to three points, 17:14. Vyacheslav is stalling again, but Ozhiganov patiently brings the diagonal back into the game, 18:14. This leads to an important break at the end., when we save Toloka discount, and Rudnev scores, 22:17. But in the end I was still nervous: Aksyutin is almost flawless on the net, winning back two match points, 24:22. But on the third attempt, Rudnev still gets out of the block, bringing the Surgut team their third victory in the championship.
Our team's character has emerged, the glider tactics worked in Aksyutin, Rudnev and Korotaev played reliably. Katic swam in attack in his usual manner, but still converted important goals due to experience. Both opponents mitigated a lot with blocking and gave the audience a large number of finishes, I liked the owners with their attitude and desire. Nikkel and Aksyutin looked good in attack, Kassel looked powerful, but the common resource was on the side of Gazprom-Yugra in the reporting match.
1 : 3 
Gazprom-Yugra (Surgut)Details
| Date | Time | Championship |
|---|---|---|
| 13.12.2023 | 18:00 | CR 2023-2024 |
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | GENERAL. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ugra-Samotlor (Nizhnevartovsk) | 25 | 23 | 14 | 22 | 1 |
| Gazprom-Yugra (Surgut) | 23 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Ugra-Samotlor (Nizhnevartovsk)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | S | K | E | FACING | B | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
