The preliminary phase of the Men’s Super League has ended. Ahead is the first round of the playoffs, where eight teams will play. Based on the results of two matches and, if necessary, a “golden” set, the top four will visit the top four of the regular season: Zenit Kazan, Lokomotiv, Belogorye and Dynamo.
Introducing the couples:
Stories
The last part of the men’s volleyball season! Who will play in the national championship playoffs?
Kazan Domination
Let’s start with the regular season leaders, who lost only three games (and two of them against Belogory). After an uncertain start, closer to the middle of the season it became clear that the boys were the main contenders for victory not only in the preliminary stage (which they won ahead of schedule), but also in the playoffs. Depth of squad, experience of victories and painful defeats. And the atmosphere within the team. What Alexey Verbov spoke about more than once in interviews.
Is Kazan coming for a double? We remember the interview with the coach after the gold:
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Even last season, the transfer of the main “weapon” of Kuzbass, Kirill Klets, was questionable: they say, Maxim Mikhailov consistently and regularly played in the second zone. But in this case, increasing the diagonal seems like a logical move. Mikhailov passed: in 21 matches he scored 219 points, that is, 3.59 points per set, with only 11 aces (0.18 per set). And he did not enter the top 10 for the most productive career. But unlike the regular season, in the playoffs it should be used more often, if not always. Especially in key sections.
The blurry end of Lokomotiv
The sensations of the railwaymen’s great start were clouded by the uncertain ending: defeat against Shakhtar (0-3), Fakel and Ural (2-3), defeat without a fight against Kazan (1-3) and that same fight. with the helpless: with “Novaya” (3:2) and “Neftyanik” (3:2). Loko lost five times in the second round and lost 16 points. This is a very significant difference compared to the first round, in which the team suffered only one defeat and lost four points.
Lokomotiv (Novosibirsk)
Photo: lokovolley.com
Plamen Konstantinov did not find significant support for Ilya Kazachenkov among the finalists. Diagonal, unlike last season, played number one throughout the entire preliminary phase: he scored 340 points in 708 attempts (48% execution and 23% efficiency) in 28 games, losing every five balls. Martin Atanasov scored only 2.69 goals per set, his colleague in the role Denis Karyagin-2.56, Omar Kurbanov-2.89. Add to that the excitement of the diagonal on the ends and the resulting frequent outs along the length, and it will be difficult to make the playoffs.
But in the semi-finals they can meet opponents who are quite comfortable, despite the fantastic series and their current form, Belogorye.
15-match series “Belogorye”
Alexander Volkov’s debut as head coach took place. In the second part of the season, Belogorye completed a streak of 15 matches – not a single defeat! Convincing victories over Zenit Kazan (3-0), five-set matches against Dinamo, Loko and Zenit St. Petersburg. Everyone played: in the second part of the season, Mohamed Al Khachdadi improved his offensive numbers: he was second in attack (393 points with a 49% conversion rate) and third in scoring (455 points).
The second foreign player and first Chinese player in the history of the Super League, Zhang, began to show his level, despite the constant pressure in reception. At first he was the main “target” of potential aces, at the end of the season he was in the top 4 in this indicator: 34% positive with 606 attempts. If the main problem of the Belgorod team, reception, is not revealed in the playoffs, it is quite possible that we will see a “national volleyball classic” in the final.
All about the most famous confrontation of the Russian Super League:
The battle between the two best volleyball teams in Russia is a special brand. What is the “classic” known for?
The decline of Dinamo
Dynamo Moscow, still contenders for the title, finished outside the top 3 for the first time in four years. The reason for this was the injuries of key players – the same Yaroslav Podlesnykh, Denis Bogdan and, for a short period, Tsvetan Sokolov – and again the modest transfer policy of last season’s runners-up. During a difficult period for the team, when not all volleyball players were on the court or even on the roster for matches, they had to experiment: urgently hire 23-year-old CSKA Moscow Region player Nikita Zudin, until the end of the season. .
Dynamo (Moscow)
Photo: vcdynamo.ru
With a successful draw, they will be able to crawl “with their teeth” to the final stages, and there will be Zenit Kazan, and the memory of the recently lost “golden” series of the Russian Championship.
Kuzbass progress
During the first part of the season, the Kemerovo team scored points in 14 games in a row! And half of them were won in five-set matchups against the best. At some point, the mechanism broke down and Alexey Babeshin was fired without explanation. But the guys started playing again, so this decision can hardly be considered unreasonable.
“Kuzbass” (Kemerovo)
Photo: kuzbass-volley.ru
This season, Kuzbass not only gave us dramatic comebacks, but also the name of the new top of Russian volleyball: Roman Pakshin. The one who finishes the regular season is the club’s top scorer and ace (425 points and 48 aces). He is fifth in scoring in the preliminary round of the Russian Championship. Pakshin, as well as the recovered Asparukh Asparukhov, and the team’s second most productive diagonal player, Dusan Petkovic, can make some noise in the Czech Republic’s final half.
Controversial Pedro
The purchase of Vladislav Babkevich and the arrival of Sergio Busato as Zenit coach were decisive in the fight for the top positions in the Super League. After the escape of Matthew Anderson and due to the injuries of Yegor Klyuka and Viktor Poletaev, the Belarusian had to close the attacking positions: Babkevich has the highest average of goals scored per set: 5.6. And another 437 points: 388 on offense, 21 aces and 28 blocks.
That’s why it’s good to have Gazprom-Yugra in the first round on the way to the final.
Disappointment of the season
“Ural” acquired the captain of the Iranian national team Milad Ebadipour, the Olympic champion, his teammate Alexander Butko, the experienced Alexander Gutsalyuk and several prospects, but failed to reach the playoffs. The second team on this list is Dynamo-LO. Injuries to the leaders at the beginning of the season literally buried the chances of the Sosnovy Bor guys to reach the top places in the regular season, and the eternal Denis Biryukov, Denis Shenkel, Marko Ivovich, Dmitry Kolenkovsky and Sergei Pirainen seem to be the best. team and spectacular volleyball, but stable results, except for specific victories, like over “Belogorye”, there were none.
