There's something heroic about it
"Zenit-Kazan": Vyshnikov – Mikhailov, Volvich - Romanovsky, Volkov – Labinsky, Fedorov
"Gazprom-Ugra": Kostadinov village - Nikiforov, Shevlyakov - Demakov, A. Kostadinov – Kuklinsky, Moiseev
We have reached the moment, that the public has certain expectations from Surgut residents even in a match against the champion on his site. Moreover, these expectations are justified, at least in the first set. When Alexander Kostadinov was covered for the second time and the score became 6:9, thought, that everything will go according to the usual scenario for such meetings. But Nikiforov ended a protracted rally with a freeball on the serve of Alexander Kostadinov, and then a block was issued to Volkov, 11:11.
It's an even game! Blok covered Labinsky twice, Moiseev cleaned up the discounts and pulled out a shot from the same Labinsky in defense - and Nikiforov, in gratitude, drove the allotted ball under the “skin”, 16:15. Shevlyakov catches Romanovsky, 18:16. Our serve is flying well, the hosts play high balls, giving chances. Slavi fires his signature serve, Vyshnikov passes in foreign airspace (that the video viewer installed), 20:17.
Verbov is forced to take a time out, to which the standard reaction from Slavi follows - ace, 21:17! Kuklinski takes Volkov's powerful serve perfectly, Shevlyakov accurate, 23:19. Coming out of the square, Tkachev makes life difficult for the receivers with his “flat” glider, but Labinsky is good on the emergency ball. Joker from the sleeve – Surmachevsky: We also don’t have the best technique and Nikiforov sends a difficult ball into the block, 23:21. All subsequent points were also distributed by Kirill - he scored, didn't serve and scored a follow-up after Kuklinski's excellent serve, 25:22.
It seemed, that the owners didn’t understand a little, what happened. But in the second set we went full force: Nikiforov and Kuklinskiy are caught by the block over and over again, Labinsky finishes the game, 2:7. Vyshnikov “varnishes” the score with an ace, 4:10. And one more, 17:10. Between them, Nikiforov was replaced by Litvinov, scored on a single block and went into the shadows. But the team does not give up - Kostadinov responds to Vyshnikov’s second ace with a similar action, but Alexander, 12:17. Shevlyakov writes a second single block to Romanovsky, 15:19. And... failure again, this time on Mikhailov's breaking serves with an ace. It’s impossible to shoot on high balls, despite all Moiseev’s efforts in defense. Rodichev and Andreev come out at the end, Anton hits a block on a set point, 15:25.
In the third game, the Zenit machine turned into full power. First of all, let's talk about the pitch - it went crazy for almost everyone. Only two aces - from Vyshnikov and Mikhailov - speak of that, that we generally coped with the reception, and this is not irony. Bringing this natural disaster to the nose of the setter is simply unrealistic, but overall we held on. Another thing, that the attackers had to play on high balls under the tall block of the hosts. We tried to change something with double substitutions, but there is no point in keeping a chronology of the score - they conceded a lot, completed on 17:25 after the Surmachevsky pipe, who came out in the middle of the set instead of Volkov.
In the fourth game we managed to stop the hosts' onslaught: Nikiforov returned to the game, the second ace was planted into the court by Alexander Kostadinov, 5:3. Nikiforov's two attacks ended with, that Romanovsky did not play a link on the ball falling under the rope, and then Kirill corrected his statistics a little more with an ace, 9:5. Slavi Labinski's block on a narrow ball makes the score explosive, 11:6. Verbov reacts instantly, releasing Abaev and Kononov onto the site. Very, a very long and beautiful rally with excellent defense from both teams ended in success for Labinsky from the fourth, it seems, attempts. On this wave the hosts evened the score, covering Nikiforov's block, 14:14.
Important, that ours are not broken. Rodichev withdrew after a time-out, and then he completed another protracted rally, 16:14. Mikhailov played the game in Maxim's machine gun mode, so in the fourth set he remained a reliable option for taking, and for play-offs. Nikiforov slightly broke the distance with his ace, 18:16, but Mikhailov fought back from the block, and another one that is super lengthy and equally excellent in defensive actions (primarily, Kazan residents) the episode ended with Tkachev's awkward kick into touch, 18:17. Perhaps, this defense and the success of Zenit because of our marriage became a turning point: Labinsky got another break, and Surmachevsky performed a crazy serve with no chance for the receivers, 18:19.
Rodichev equalizes the score and Verbov pulls out his last trump card - he returns Volkov to the court. And he immediately “mixes his tracks”, attacking from the first zone as a diagonal, second wave after that, how we managed to fight off Mikhailov’s attack. We don't bend: Nikiforov and Kostadinov are tipping the balance 21:20. Swing at the end? Logical option for the game, but Abaev has a different opinion. With a series of varied sharp serves, he deprives us of finishing, generally starting with a shortened ace under Moiseev, 21:22. Two more innings - we can't withdraw. On the first match ball too, fortunately the block closes Labinsky. But that's all: Slavi justifiably risks all his money on serve and the ball flies into the net, 22:25.
Just like in the match with Dynamo, we were close to the tiebreaker in Kazan, but the difference in class took its toll. Whatever it was, we took a set from Zenit for the first time since 2022 of the year, which can already be regarded as an achievement. Not all at once. And if you remember the gap in the capabilities of our clubs, then a similar game in Kazan on our part can be safely equated... well, not for heroism. But something heroic, as the hero of one famous film said, there's definitely something in this.
3: 1 
Gazprom-Yugra (KhMAO-Yugra)Details
| Date | Time | Championship |
|---|---|---|
| 26.01.2026 | 21:00 | CR 2025-2026 |
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | GENERAL. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenit-Kazan (Kazan) | 22 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Gazprom-Yugra (KhMAO-Yugra) | 25 | 15 | 17 | 22 | 1 |
Zenit-Kazan (Kazan)
| 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 |
