KAZAN SAYS “THANK YOU” TO SURGUT
Surgut residents put up decent resistance to the champion, giving up on the little things, which define, ultimately, a little more skill of the opponent. And a little more luck, which, as you know - the continuation of skill.
But it all started for the owners is not very rosy. In the first set, the reception did not allow Artem Khabibullin to actively use the center of the grid, but on the edges things weren’t going well in the attack at all. Gazprom-Yugra managed to move close to the guests in the score (7:8, 16:17, 19:21) mainly due to selfless play in defense, two aces by Kirill Ursov and a little more faulty service from Kazan. Nevertheless, 21:25 after the Butko discount - a logical result.
In the second game, the Surgut team took off right off the bat - after Anderson’s serve into the net, Krsmanovich exploded with activity: scored behind Khabibullin's head, Samoilenko installed the unit, and then Chefranov knocked out Anderson - 4:0. Kazan responded with a series of serves from Mikhailov, which included two aces, 5:5.
An equal fight ensued, on fire - defense of Gazprom-Ugra and Artem Khabibullin. He attacks - 8:6, then makes a run to the stands, pulling out the ball, then folds it in the manner of Vadim Khamuttskikh, 9:7. Dovgan writes out another block of Samoilenko, and Alexey gives way to his namesake Kononov on the site. Zenit's team catches up with the hosts on Anderson's serves, 11:11, and again the Surgut residents earn a slight advantage, covering Ngapet with a block and using Bisset's flying serve.
With the score 16:14 an episode occurred, adding real heat to the already emotional game: the time-out siren sounded on the Cuban legionnaire's serve, Jordan returned the ball to the ball boy in a disciplined manner, and chief judge Nikolai Anderson, counting down eight seconds, gave the ball to Kazan. Formally, the judge is right, because he didn't blow the whistle for half-time, but in essence - the point is more than controversial. The effect of what happened was this:: Ursov scores angrily from the fourth zone, Mikhailov attacks with a spade, and then lands completely in the Dovgan block, 19:15 and Verbov takes his previously unspent time-out.
Anderson doesn't put the ball down the line. (20:15) and Zenit has a double substitution. The hosts are experiencing problems in the formation with a diagonal in the fourth zone and Nikita Alekseev’s serves: Glivenko is closed by a block (21:18), and Ursov, at the end of a long rally, does not hit the court from the “deuce”, 21:19. Surgut residents literally raise everything in defense, but they are inferior on the grid, Anderson equalizes the score with another ace, 22:22. Matthew weakened his serve - Dovgan immediately scored, 23:22. Erwin Ngapeth said the decisive word with a minus sign - his attack on the block brings the hosts a set point, and a hit into touch means a victory in the game.
At the beginning of the third set, the Surgut team made a lot of mistakes on serve, and Andreev’s efforts on the back line again do not find support in the attack - Bisset and Ursov are blocked by a block, Krsmanovic is softened and the ball is returned to the bowl by Anderson's discount, 4:7. Then comes Artem Khabibullin’s next benefit performance - he performs a beautiful discount, with the back of your head to the net, and when Ursov throws him the passing ball, scores it without a doubt, 7:8. The next segment is behind Zenit, Butko knocks Bisset out of the move, and Glivenko gives way to Troinin on the court, which one, seem to be, debut in the role of diagonal, 7:11.
After the time-out, Bisset fully rehabilitated himself in attack., and Zenit has another mini-failure named after Ngapet - Erwin does not score and disrupts the reception, giving the opponent pre-game balls, 10:11. Zenit is still a step or two ahead, despite two aces from Dovgan and Bisset, as well as single block Habibullina Ngapetu, 16:17. Khabibullin scores his fourth point in attack (!), 18:19. At the end, after hitting Troinin's block (19:21), Anderson demonstrates concentrated play. First he gets his way from the fourth zone, and then serves it right through, 19:23. The game ends with mutual service errors., 20:25.
In the opening of the fourth game, Dovgan again forces a mistake in Krotkov’s technique, 2:0. Another successful glider - and Troinin scores from the second zone, 3:0. Ace Mikhailova reduces the distance to a minimum, 4:3. Andreev then lifts Mikhailov's most powerful attack on a clean net (!), Anderson takes a touch into touch, but two video reviews in a row - touching the block and crossing the halfway line - still record the guests' error, 6:4. Spectators are pleased with the spectacle: rivals keep each other on their toes, a real extravaganza in defense, absolutely equal game - 14:14. Here Butko explodes with two aces, 14:17.
Protracted attempts to overtake the opponent end in success at the mark 22:22 – Ursov scores, and then stops Mikhailov with a block. Khabibullin's single block on Anderson puts Gazprom-Yugra ahead, 23:22. The American is correcting himself, but Bisset's block strike brings the hosts a set point, 24:23. Mikhailov and Troinin restore parity, 25:24. Surgut residents pull out the first pace of the guests, but remain without attack, Mikhailov decides the episode, 25:25. Anderson gives the Kazan team a finish to the game with his serve, implemented through Ngapeta, and then serves it right through - to be fair, it’s worth saying, that the ball touched the cable in flight, changing direction and speed, 25:27. Сургутяне боролись с чемпионом на равных и были в шаге от тай-брейка, но решающая разница в определяющие моменты была сделана теми, кто специально для этого и выходит на площадку – Михайловым и Андерсоном.
Alex Verbov, i.o. главного тренера ВК «Зенит-Казань»:
– Мне очень понравился матч с точки зрения эмоций. Мы примерно этого и ждали, поскольку Сургут всегда настраивается на нас с особой энергией. Я не помню ни одного матча, что в Казани, что здесь, в котором было бы легко. Особенно здесь, при своей публике – видели, какие сумасшедшие мячи в защите сегодня тащили игроки? it, of course, придает двойной импульс и нам было непросто. Хочу поблагодарить своих ребят – они могли и руки опустить, результат ведь для нас не так важен. Но эти матчи важны в плане подготовки к плей-офф. Сегодня мы играли только на победу, без каких-либо экспериментов, поскольку в следующем туре нас ждет Питер, а затем – первый раунд плей-офф Лиги чемпионов. Сегодняшняя борьба и накал были нам нужны, поскольку последние матчи мы проводили без такого ажиотажа и напряжения. Спасибо команде Сургута за то, что дали нам настоящий бой. Сегодня был суперматч и по накалу, и по зрелищности, and level of play.
Alexander Butko, Captain VC "Zenit-Kazan":
– Готовились к тяжелой игре, традиционно игры с Сургутом, что здесь, что в Казани, проходят непросто. На данном этапе это очень важно для нас, поскольку впереди плей-офф в чемпионате и Лиге чемпионов, и хороший уровень сопротивления нам необходим. Thanks to Surgut, что навязали нам такую игру – за счет агрессивной подачи, выбив нас из приема в какой-то момент. Надо отдать должное – у соперника была и очень хорошая общая игра. Что касается обилия спорных моментов: I find, что помимо игроков судьям тоже надо готовится к таким тяжелым играм. At some point it seemed, что они немножко потеряли концентрацию. However, для такого матча споры – это нормально.
Yuriy Melnychuk, head coach of the EC "Gazprom-Ugra" (Surgut):
– Спасибо команде, бились в каждой партии. Не все получалось с точки зрения техники и тактики, but that, что ребята бились за каждый мяч, не может не радовать. Для болельщиков, probably, последний домашний матч стал самым интересным, мы старались их порадовать. Что касается концовки четвертой партии – очень квалифицированный игрок Андерсон исполнил подачу, тут «претензии» могут быть только к нему – почему он так хорошо подал? Мы тоже бились, старались, тоже хорошо подавали, но сегодня победило чуть большее мастерство игроков Казани. Thank you to the fans, которые очень эмоционально поддерживали команду, и команда отвечала им своей игрой.
2 Martha, 18:00. "Gazprom-Ugra" (Surgut) – "Zenith" (Kazan) 1:3 (21:25, 25:22, 20:25, 25:27).
Photos and videos you can find on our pages on social networks: instagram, facebook, twitter, in contact with
