WON THE CLASS
The second round of the preliminary part of the Russian Cup kicked off in Kemerovo with the match between Gazprom-Yugra and Lokomotiv-Izumrud. Sergei Pirainen, who was ill, was absent from the Surgut team (his temperature rose), his place was taken by Pavel Avdochenko. Artem Khabibullin also took to the court, Ruslan Galimov, Kirill Kastylenka, Oleksiy Pluzhnikov (who, after entering the serve, was traditionally replaced by Artem Dovgan), Denis Chireysky, Gregory Dragunov.
Reliable blocking play created an advantage for the Surgut team in the opening of the match - 5:2. which, however, immediately dissolved: Chireyskiy can't handle his serve, and two successful hits on the line for the opponent - from a serve and a rebound from a block - even out the situation, 6:6. An even firefight goes up to the mark 11:11, after which Avdochenko successfully acts as a safety net twice, and Dovgan and Galimov are sorting out on the grid, 14:11. Artem Khabibullin persistently tries to activate the pipe performed by Galimov, and the Urals themselves complicate their lives with two out-of-bounds attacks, 20:16.
It would seem that, a calm ending is guaranteed, but this is not about us: a marriage performed by Surgut residents began to rain down. Avdochenko does not submit (20:17), low pass to Chireyskiy (21:19), Avdochenko doesn't score (21:20), Khabibullin and Chireysky did not understand, to whom to pass the allocated ball (22:21), Galimov attacks into touch (22:22). Good, caught themselves in time after the time-out taken by Yuri Melnichuk: Galimov and Avdochenko score, and the block closes the attack of Ganin’s diagonal “Emerald”, 25:22.
In the second set, three errors in a row by Ganin (out - block - out) create a good springboard for a breakthrough (9:6), but no - the diagonal "Lokomotiv" adjusts the sight, and here Avdochenko is slightly disoriented. Nevertheless, on his serve we have a great chance to restore the three-point gap, but Artem Khabibullin rather mediocrely uses the ideal finish - he drives Kostylenko under the block in the fourth zone, 12:11.
Yuri Melnichuk makes a double substitution, releasing Rukavishnikov and Pluzhnikov. Evgeniy starts for his health with an attack by Chireysky, but the continuation is the same - the pass is not at Dovgan's pace 14:14. Again the block plus Dragunov’s active defense saves the day – 17:14. Rukavishnikov’s unprepared discount and Galimov’s attack on a deflected ball into touch again raise questions, 17:16, the answer to which is reverse double substitution. And again the block comes to the rescue - 19:16, and Dovgan's ace (21:17) allows you to more or less calmly complete the task, Chireysky puts the point with ace, 25:20.
In the third set, Rukavishnikov comes out to pass., and Chireysky is replaced by Kiselev at the net. Cheerful start (3:0) immediately falls apart on his own mistakes, an equal game ensues. At some point after the ace, the Urals even take the lead (9:11), but just in time, another power delivery for elimination occurs, performed by Dovgan (11:11). On the balance sheet, opponents are approaching the mark 17:17. “Izumrud” setter Akhaminov feeds into the net, his teammates do wonders in defense, but Avdochenko’s discount still finds common ground with the site, 19:17. Another portion of defense miracles from Lokomotiv, and again the Surgut team put the squeeze on the rally - through Dovgan’s attack behind the setter’s head, 20:17.
Avdochenko hits the ball on a single block (21:18), and Kozlov, who came out in the opening of the set instead of Kostylenko, scores a passing ball on the serve of the same Dovgan, 22:18. Well, a portion of the final marriage (where without her!) – Dovgan doesn’t serve, Avdochenko gets blocked, the technique takes the ball to the opponent's side - fortunately Kiselev got his bearings and blocked the Ural team's attempt to quickly resolve the situation in their favor, 23:20. Ganin resurrected Emerald’s hope twice more, but Rukavishnikov’s discount and Galimov’s powerful blow from a block into deep out ended the match dry, but a difficult victory for Gazprom-Yugra.
Our setters didn't show their best game today, which directly affected the attack from the fourth zone. Avdochenko with 44 didn’t spoil the game with the percentage of sales, but didn't do it either, we achieved success due to slightly better reception, more aggressive delivery and, mainly, block. In other words, took the match in class, despite the existing problems. Tomorrow – a match with the unyielding Tyumen, and it would be nice to find more weighty arguments for it.
"Gazprom-Ugra" / Lokomotiv-Izumrud 3:0 (25:22, 25:20, 25:22)
