Didn't lose, but gave in

"Dynamo" Moscow: Pankov – Litvinenko, Vlasov – Zhuk, Semyshev – Bogdan, Rams

"Gazprom-Yugra" KhMAO-Yugra: Kostadinov village - Nikiforov, Shevlyakov - Andreev, A. Kostadinov – Bobrov, Nagaets/Moiseev

Muscovites continue to recover Sapozhkov, and our coaching staff sent out a “young” version of the final game from the start. Semyshev failed to cope with Shevlyakov's glider (4:2 after Nikiforov's finish), but got revenge with two aces in a row, 6:7. Semyshev again swims in the reception, this time Andreev earns an ace, 9:8.

Dynamo's equal game breaks the mark 12:12 – Bobrov, in turn, does not find an approach to the Zhuk’s glider, and Semyshev is good at finishing the game, 2:15. Konstantin Bryansky conceived a two-move with the release of libero Kovalev in the status of a finisher to strengthen the reception instead of Litvinenko and the transition of Bogdan to the diagonal, as a result - an error in the arrangement, 15:17. But Bogdan scores from the first zone and Semyshev fires another series of serves with two aces, and Rodichev exchanges Bobrov for almost hopeless 21:15.

Ace Vlasova from the cable (16:23) leaves no chance, but Alexander Kostadinov explodes - he scores on a triple block and puts in an ace. Another protracted rally ends with Bogdan hitting the block and the score becomes edible, 20:24. That's all, Zhuk confidently converts the zone, 20:25.

In the opening of the second game, the setters exchanged aces, and the Yugra team went ahead by three points from the mark 6:6 – Bogdan threw it into the rope, Slavi decided to finish the game after another unintelligible move by Semyshev, his brother got it back on his fingers. Further more: Litvinenko stepped in during the attack, 11:7.

The guests had a chance to steal another break, but the defense of Muscovites and Bogdan did not allow. Slavi's one attack doesn't go through the tempo, the next pass completely flies into the back of Shevlyakov’s head - this is not attacked, 11:10. Alexander Kostadinov's discounts are being cleaned, we have no other threats, 11:13. it seems, that the initiative has been lost again, and we get to the overture, losing three points (19:22) after an unused chance in the final game.

Substitute Tyushkevich serves into the net, Semyshev again suffers in receiving the glider, but it seems to be getting better, unscrewing the ball in a hopeless situation from the block. But the video review records Anton’s landing in the net, 21:22. Semyshev is filming, and then again watching the controversial moment - Pankov turned the net ball into touch, it's just not obvious, who touched the ball last. This time the technique is for the hosts and they have three set points, 21:24.

Nikiforov removes a heavy ball on a triple block and makes a half-ace - after his serve, three touches were not enough, to unscrew the ball from behind a post. Bryansky takes a time out, and Rodichev equalizes the score with a block-out, 24:24. There was a shootout, in which Denis Bogdan distinguished himself four times and made four mistakes, including on delivery, but Alexander Kostadinov put an end to it with an ace, 30:28.

The outcome of the set greatly surprised the Muscovites, They were even more surprised by the pressure of the guests in the third game. In general, the game has moved into a double-edged direction, at first Gazprom-Yugra was in the lead, but the hosts leveled the situation by the middle of the set, 16:16. In a protracted episode, Zhuk collided with his knee against Alexander Kostadinov, and Nikiforov gave the hosts a break advantage with a shot into touch, 17:19. Zhuk was replaced by Belogortsev, and here Demakov, who came out instead of Shevlyakov in the second set, scored twice, 19:20. Blok stopped Semyshev's attack, but the omnipresent Baranov managed to insure his comrade and only Nikiforov’s finishing game brought back the intrigue, 20:20.

Nikiforov brought the bill to 22:23, after which Pankov activated Bogdan - Denis’s pipe and attack from the fourth zone after Semyshev’s knockout serve decided the outcome, 22:25.

In the fourth game, Kuklinsky, who replaced Rodichev, remained on the court, and Slavi Ace outlined the guests’ claims for revenge, 3:1. Another Slavi ace came at the mark 12:7 and again, like in the second game, we almost lost the initiative with our own marriage: Kuklinski didn't put the ball on the line, and Kostadinov crossed the middle line after the pipe, 13:11.

Another attack by Litvinenko - 17:13. After the block to Bogdan (19:16) we had a great chance to go to a calm ending on freeball after Slavi's serve, but Nikiforov ran into a wall. And then Bogdan, in turn, made a powerful serve, we gave the ball to the opponent twice and Semyshev decided, 19:18. After the time-out, Demakov enters the zone, Nikiforov continues to churn out blockouts, and Semyshev attacks wide of the court without touching, 23:20. Anton's mistake on serve brings us three set points, 24:21.

How can we not remember the second set and the reverse situation?, where we managed to get out of the hole. So Muscovites followed in our footsteps, in which Alexander Kostadinov greatly helped them with two mistakes in attack, 24:25. Nikiforov, having received, finally, ball, equalized the score. And then I returned everything to balance again, until his next attack was raised in defense and Semyshev finished the match, 26:28.

I never would have thought, that the defeat in Moscow from Dynamo could be offensive. It turns out, maybe the fifth set was very close. But there's no point in worrying, We should praise our guys for that, that they managed to impose a real fight on one of the strongest teams in the country. Even though the Muscovites played without an attack leader, but they have plenty of other arguments. The finishers there are of national team level, in the center are real monsters, bunch - team, libero - team...

And here Kirill Nikiforov continues to rush to these heights. In general, Slavi played a very good match in terms of thought and its implementation, except for a couple of flaws. Well, at the end of the fourth game, what is called, didn't guess. I was pleased with Kuklinsky - yes, didn't score everything, but scored a lot, cleverly, by hand or by, kept reception. We can continue: the same Alexander Kostadinov should not dream of two mistakes in the end - he must draw conclusions and become stronger. He still has plenty of chances to rehabilitate himself.. We played as a team, played with differences, but without failures, picked up the game, feared each other, played with variations, skillfully using strengths and masking weaknesses. Well done. Another plus for team karma, after all, losing in Moscow is not shameful - it’s important, how it was done. We didn't lose, we lost to a more skilled enemy. Just a little bit.

Dynamo (Moscow) 3: 1 Gazprom-Yugra (KhMAO-Yugra)

Details

Date	Time	Championship
20.01.2026	21:00	CR 2025-2026

Results

Team	1	2	3	4	GENERAL.
Dynamo (Moscow)	25	28	25	28	3
Gazprom-Yugra (KhMAO-Yugra)	20	30	22	26	1

Venue

g. Moscow

Dynamo (Moscow)

1	2	3	4	5	S	K	E	FACING	B	PTS
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Gazprom-Yugra (KhMAO-Yugra)

1	2	3	4	5	S	K	E	FACING	B	PTS
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0