The Women’s Volleyball Super League has identified a quartet of the strongest teams that will continue their fight for medals at the Russian Championship.
The last to jump into the top 4 were the Kaliningrad volleyball players: the railwaymen needed to play all three matches against Saratov “Proton” in order to reach the semi-finals.
In general, the composition of the semi-final stage is as follows: “Dynamo”, “Dynamo-Ak Bars”, “Leningradka” and “Lokomotiv”. All four were in first place at the end of the regular season.
Dynamo almost suffered a sensational defeat:
Dinamo Moscow was on the verge of losing the match. Results of the first relegation matches in the Women’s Super League
“Leningrad” makes history
Leningradka was the first to reach the semi-finals. “Dynamo-Metar” could not withstand the pressure and crazy attack of Alexander Kashin’s team. And in the second leg, which took place in Chelyabinsk, the yellow and black only gave their rivals one game.
In the first meeting, the coach of the Chelyabinsk team complained about blocking and defense, and in the second they managed to improve these elements. However, a gap appeared in another component of the game – the attack (43% of attacks versus 62% for Leningradka). This played a decisive role in the second match.
Pari Super League – playoffs (w). 1/4 final. 2nd match
Saturday, March 30, 2024. 14:00 Moscow time
Dynamo-Metar
Chelyabinsk
Leningrad
St. Petersburg
Dinamo-Metar: Konovalova, Samoilova, Bagryantseva, Yargychova, Azanova, Sorokina, Fornaleva, Biryukova, Vasilyeva, Zaitseva, Dementieva, Mamedova
Leningrad: Sikachyova, Kharlova, Romanova, Chernova, Garelik, Melnikova, Kutyukova, Matienko, Koroleva, Maksimova, Pirainen, Prokofieva, Shevchenko, Perova
“Attack! Our offense has been suffering all season. The result is probably natural. Unfortunately we still can’t play at this level, everything happens in waves. You saw with your own eyes that the second game was played cleaner in attack and there was an immediate result, the rest of the matches we resisted, we hit them in defense, but we couldn’t score. Congratulations to Leningradka, I wish them success and now we have our own semi-final, final, so the championship is not over, we will try to go higher in the classification!” – said Dinamo-Metar coach Alexander Koshkin.
“Leningrad”
Photo: leningradka.spb.ru
The Saint Petersburg Club continues to make history. “Leningradka” has already left its mark in the finals of the Centenario Cup and the Russian Cup. And now the yellow-blacks have a real chance to achieve it in the national championship. The team’s best results in modern history were fifth place in 1993 and 2008. And the last time volleyball players from the banks of the Neva stood on the podium was in 1980; then there was silver in the USSR championship.
“Uralochka” beat the favorite
The second semi-finalist was Dynamo Moscow. Who would have thought that the eighth team of the regular season would give the championship leaders a real fight. “Uralochka”, who literally jumped into the last car of the playoffs, not only did not become an extra in this pair, but also showed real Ural character, exhausting the blue and white in two five-set matches.
Pari Super League – playoffs (w). 1/4 final. 2nd match
Saturday, March 30, 2024. 17:00 Moscow time
Dynamo M
Moscow
Uralochka-NTMK
sverdlovsk region
Dinamo M: Pipunyrova, Pushina, Goncharova, Sinitsyna, Kapustin, Evdokimova, Pereira, Startseva, Polyakova, Khabibrakhmanova, Kurilo, Zhabrova, Podkopaeva
Uralochka-NTMK: Alekseeva, Zvereva, Kornienko, Kotova, Chernysheva, Trukhina, Gonzalez, Fitisova, Pavlova, Selyutina, Vaganova, Shvydkaya, Protopopova, Kupryashkina
If in the first match it was still possible to say that “the local walls helped Uralochka”, the second match on the Moscow Club’s court showed that this result was not accidental. The guests did not allow the current Russian champions to get ahead on the scoreboard and clung to every ball. The first game was even until the end, where everything was decided with two successful attacks by Vaganova.
In the second game, Dynamo already showed the class of its attack, increasing its implementation efficiency from 32% to 46%. “Uralochka” could not contain his rival and the blue and white team calmly took the set (25:18).
In the third segment of the game, spectators witnessed a feast of blocks: the teams scored 12 points between them. It is not surprising that it was this element of the game that gave the Muscovites the winning point in the match: 26:24.
Moscow “Dynamo”
Photo: vldinamo.ru
In the fourth set, Dynamo’s game went poorly (36% in reception and 33% in attacking execution), while Uralochka, on the contrary, mobilized all its forces, showing fantastic numbers in reception: 85%. The guests had a great period on Fitisova’s serve: they changed 13:10 to 19:10 and then easily took the set with a block (25:15). However, in the shortened fifth set, Dinamo’s experience and composure played their role: after Irina Kapustina came off the service line with three aces, the scoreboard showed a desperate score for Uralochka – 11:3. Konstantin Ushakov’s team, although not without difficulties, continues its search for the fourth trophy of the season.
Kazan has no problems!
“Dynamo – Ak Bars” from Kazan simply swept their rival “Tulitsa” like a hurricane in the quarterfinals: Kazan volleyball players were the only ones who did not experience any difficulties at this stage. The second game, like the first, ended fairly quickly after three games.
Pari Super League – playoffs (w). 1/4 final. 2nd match
March 31, 2024, Sunday. 16:30 Moscow time
Tulitsa
tula region
Dynamo-Ak Bars
Kazan
Tulitsa: Yuryeva, Krasnova, Efimova, Stankevichute, Mishagina, Smirnova, Kovaleva, Luneva, Vytrishko, Prasolova, Timoshkova, Efimova, Tikhomirova, Kuznetsova, Slautin, Nyakina, Akhmedov, Kasatkina, Lebedkina, Rotasticova
Dynamo-Ak Bars: Lazarenko, Yunikova, Rakhmatullina, Matveeva, Enina, Rebrova, Pietrini, Bibina, Lukyanova, Anufrienko, Suvorova, Astashina, Kovaleva, Zamanskaya, Sperskaite, Vetrova, Klimets, Martinez
The second match was a continuation of the first match: the guests completely controlled the situation on the court, not giving the Tula girls any chance of success. Zoran Terzic’s team learned its lesson after losing 1:3 in the regular season and this time clearly worked on each component of the game: 18 points in the block (only Lazarenko scored eight) against two for Tulitsa. Dynamo also looked better in attack: 42% against 28%.
“Tulitsa” forced its rivals to fight only in the second game, but timeouts taken at the right time allowed Kazan to rectify the situation and win the set (25:22). Well, the third game, like the first, ended with a convincing advantage of the Kazan volleyball players – 25:14. After a year off, Dynamo-Ak Bars returns to the top 4 and the fight for medals.
“Dynamo-Ak Bars”
Photo: dinamo-kazan.com
“We really wanted to fight, but again it was 0:3. Now it is very difficult to fight against Kazan, they have very tall players, that is why we lost both attack and blocking,” Tulitsa coach Andrei Podkopaev summarized the results of the match.
Intrigue until the last ball
The most surprising thing in the quarterfinals was the confrontation between two equal teams: Lokomotiv Kaliningrad and Proton Saratov. The clubs needed all three matches to determine who would continue fighting for medals and who would get the play-off matches. And in the decisive match, the Kaliningrad volleyball players were luckier.
Pari Super League – playoffs (w). 1/4 final. 3rd match
April 2, 2024, Tuesday. 20:00 Moscow time
Locomotive
Kaliningrad region
Proton
Saratov
Lokomotiv: Lyubushkina, Sinkevich, Gorbacheva, Popovich, Zaitseva, Galkina, Brovkina, Parubets, Filishtinskaya, Krotkova, Tolok, Kostyuchik, Kondrashova, Karakurt
Proton: Kostyukevich, Seliverstova, Gatina, Sergeeva, Belikova, Smelenko, Malykh, Markova, Soboleva, Lubenchenko, Bobrova
Radoslav Arsov’s team lost the home match in Kaliningrad, but was able to level the score in the series, taking a convincing revenge in Saratov with a score of 3:0. Proton came into this match without their coach: Yuri Marichev was punished for being too emotional in the first match.
Lokomotiv captain Ksenia Parubets said after the second match that the team was returning to Kaliningrad to show that it has the right to move forward. And she really had to prove it. Because the guests quarreled very quickly. Marichev started the game unconventionally, starting Seliverstova and Markova instead of the main Malykh and Smelenko. And this clearly discouraged the rivals of the Kaliningrad Club 7-0. Furthermore, Proton’s services flew perfectly, depriving Loko of the opportunity to attack at the first pace. The result is a confident 25:20 in favor of Proton.
“Proton”
Photo: proton-saratov.ru
The second game was tied until the score reached 18:18. And in the end, Arsov’s excellent substitutions (Lyubushkina instead of Popovich, Kostyuchik instead of Parubets) allowed Lokomotiv to take the set – 25:21. Lyubushkina completely cemented the net, stopping three attacks in a row from the guests, and Kostyuchik did an excellent job in attack. At the same time, the bravery that Kaliningrad captured at the end of the second set carried over into the third: 25:23 in favor of Loko.
The fourth game was a bit reminiscent of the first. “Proton” got off to a great start and began to torment the home team with numerous and varied first-pace attacks, as well as adding a block. The lead only increased with each disposition (11:5, then 19:10). The Lokomotiv coach, foreseeing the outcome of the match, almost completely replaced the main six. And Bobrova’s attack took the game to the fifth set (25:18).
Lokomotiv (Kaliningrad)
Photo: vc-lokomotiv.ru
A tenacious fight lasted until the middle of the fifth game (4-4, 6-6). But the railroaders changed sides with a two-point lead. And then Lokomotiv, thanks to the efforts of Tolok and Karakurt, led 11:7. With a comfortable four-goal lead, the Kaliningrad volleyball players reached a match point. Belikova brought the intrigue back to the match with a run and then a block (13:14). But in the next draw, Karakurt put an end to the already most intriguing confrontation.
In the semi-finals, Dynamo Moscow will play against Lokomotiv and Dynamo-Ak Bars Kazan against Leningradka. The first matches will be played this week and the series itself will consist of five matches with a maximum of three wins.
Interestingly, this will be the third such semi-final this season. Exactly the same composition of couples was already in the Centenario Cup and the Russian Cup. And both ended in the same way: Muscovites and volleyball players from the northern capital reached the final. We will see if Loko and Dynamo Kazan will be able to turn the situation around and reach the final at the third attempt.
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