The regular Super League championship is at the finish line, while all over the world the final stages of the European cups are underway: the Champions League, the CEV Cup, the Challenge Cup, where the Russians also shine.
We remember the main events in the world of volleyball this week.
“Belogorye” is in the top three, “Dynamo” failed in Kemerovo
There are five days left until the final of the regular Russian championship and the first three winners are sweeping: except Zenit Kazan, who, even if they play poorly, take away points. But Lokomotiv, which once managed to lose its lead in the table, is now barely holding on to second place. First, the railwaymen stumbled against Shakhtar (0:3), then they could not resist Belogorye (2:3), but they interrupted the February series of defeats with a match against ASK (3:0).
Dinamo left the top 3: after matchday 25, the Belgorod team surpasses it in the number of victories (18 for Belogorye compared to 17 for the Muscovites). Konstantin Bryansky’s team unexpectedly lost points in Kemerovo.
After all, the once formidable Kuzbass has lost the magic of five-set comebacks. Or behind the recent unclear results of the Kemerovo team was the players’ desire to dismiss former coach Alexei Babeshin. But after the resignation, four wins in five games and the main sensation (3-0) at home against Dynamo. “We played as a team,” said coach Sergei Trotsky. As a team, by the way, they covered the guests at the net 17 times in three sets, five blocks were scored by Asparukh Asparukhov. Diagonal became the most productive player of the game with 14 points.
“We played very dirty, first of all, at key moments we made a lot of mistakes in attack and of course that made a big difference. We let the opponent develop his potential, we supported him with our mistakes, which were many, but unfortunately this gave us a certain disadvantage at the end of the first set, and also in the second. You saw the third, we got in the same formation, we made some mistakes and we made the difference,” said VC Dynamo coach Konstantin Bryansky.
Belogorye managed to knock Dynamo out of the top 3 for the first time in a long time. Alexander Volkov’s boys have not lost for 10 games in a row: from matchday 16 they beat Zenit (both), Dynamo and Lokomotiv. And many victories were achieved thanks to moral and willing games, in five sets and with 0-2 in the games. Now, after another similar victory over Dynamo LO (3-2), five points separate them from second place.
The leaders of the regular season, Kazan and Novosibirsk, beat their rivals to zero, and the St. Petersburg team again delayed its entry into the top 5 of the Super League, losing to Fakel (1-3).
Review of Novy Urengoy’s victory:
We couldn’t upset our ex. Fakel beat Zenit-SPb with Babkevich and Sivozhelez
Kazan is being pursued by Moscow
The top three are alone after matchday 22, but the final match of this draw between Lokomotiv and Dynamo Krasnodar will not be played until Wednesday, February 28.
But four rounds before the end of the regular season, the Kaliningrad results are unlikely to seriously affect anything: they should finish the season in the top 4. Or wait for the third Leningradka to fail. The St. Petersburg team has already lost second place in the table, allowing Dynamo-Ak Bars to advance. But after three failures in a row, Alexander Kashin’s team finally won the match away from Dynamo-Metar (3:1).
Dynamo-Ak Bars continues to ignore its rivals: its fantastic streak already totals 11 victories. The last time Kazan lost to Tulitsa was last year and then they destroyed Dynamo and Lokomotiv. The match on matchday 23 against Leningradka could be decisive in the fight for the top three. Meanwhile, the Kazan girls have one more defeat compared to Dinamo Moscow – the Muscovites have two. Konstantin Ushakov’s team maintains a margin of +4, after having defeated Yenisei (3-1) in the difficult match on matchday 22.
Final results before the Super League playoffs:
Who is the favorite in the Women’s Volleyball Super League? Let’s find out who is the strongest and why.
Ours in the world and in Europe
Champions League, first quarterfinal match (second leg – February 28)
Volley Alliance – Fenerbahçe – 3:2
On February 20, the first quarterfinal match of the Women’s Champions League took place between Turkish Fenerbahce and German Stuttgart. Alliance Volleyball players unexpectedly defeated the Turkish team on their court. The match ended with the score 3:2 (22:25, 26:24, 19:25, 25:20, 15:10). The most productive player of the match was Fenerbahçe striker Arina Fedorovtseva. The Russian has 31 points (56% conversion with eight errors): 26 in attack, one in blocking and four in service. But this was not enough for the guests to win. In addition, Fedorovtseva’s team was better in all aspects: 8:7 in aces, 13:26 in own errors, 69:58 in goals scored.
Arina Fedorovtseva, Fenerbahce
Photo: Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu via Getty Images
Already on the national stage, in the match on matchday 20 of the regular season, Fedorovtseva served five aces and Irina Fetisova made five effective blocks. With these statistics, Fenerbahçe volleyball players finished the match with Sariyer with a 3:0 victory and strengthened their lead in the championship. Arina became the most productive of the lineup with 12 points and 58% shooting.
“Exacibashi” – “Scandicci” – 3:2
There, another Russian is fighting for a ticket to the round of 16. Irina Voronkova with the Turkish “Ekzachibashi” lost in the first match of the Champions League against the Italian “Scandicci” with the former Russian Ekaterina Antropova – 2:3 (25:23, 21:25, 26:24, 17:25 , 10:15). The best among the Italians was Ekaterina Antropova with 20 points. The MVP of the match was Ekzachibaşi libero Simge Şebnem Aköz, who was precise in receiving and defending, but the performance of Tijana Bošković was decisive for the success in Turkey: the Serbian scored 31 points despite seven errors on serve.
In the regular season, Antropova’s club is also among the contenders for the title: it is fourth and one point behind second place, which is occupied by Vita Akimova and Marina Markova’s Novara. Vita is the second highest scorer in the league with 425 points. Katya is third with 377 points and also the best in aces: she has 47 serves.
Challenge Cup, first match of the final (second leg – February 28)
Novara – Nantes – 3:0
In the first match of the Challenge Cup, Novara beat Nantes 3-0, and Markova’s debut was decisive: Marina was immediately named MVP. The goal of the Italian club was to close the gaps in attack until the end of the season, then Markova will return to Turkey: he has already signed a two-year contract with Vakifbank.
“I am very happy with the debut. It was the first time I played the European Cup and immediately the final. I was nervous and worried, but then I relaxed during the match, also thanks to my teammates.
Marina Markova, Novara
Photo: cev.eu
I am proud of all of them. I think we showed a good game. But now we have to prepare for the match on Saturday and then for the return match in Nantes, because they will be two very difficult tests,” Markova is quoted by the Club’s press service on the official website agilvolley.it.
The epic with the transfer of Markova from the Turkish “Muratpasa”, where she started this season, has lasted for the last three or four months. Now two of the most promising Russian women play in Novara. Marina scored 17 points in the first game of the final: 13 from the field (with 57% shooting and 9 errors) and four aces. Vita Akimova played diagonally, contributing 10 points: eight from the field (on 28% shooting) and two aces.
In Japan, Dmitry Musersky is spectacular: his 704 points helped the team rise to second place in the regular season with 25 wins and five losses. In the United States, Anna Lazareva plays in the newly formed women’s volleyball league (Pro Volleyball Federation – PVF). Diagonal joined the Atlanta Vibe club. The Russian team occupies first place in the table. Atlanta now has four wins and two losses.
United States, Brazil, Japan: where else do our people move?
The Russian volleyball player moved to the United States. Anna Lazareva’s magnificent debut abroad
