In the Women’s Volleyball Super League there are few games left until the end of the regular phase. Therefore, each team does its best to rise as high as possible in the standings. Round 23 was not a success, there was excitement and spectacle in several matches at once.
The fight for the final playoff spot has intensified to the limit.
How are the favorites of the Women’s Super League doing?
Who is the favorite in the Women’s Volleyball Super League? Let’s find out who is the strongest and why.
The first day of the tour opened with the matches of the championship leaders. “Dynamo” Moscow beat “Minchanka” 3-0 away without much difficulty. Konstantin Ushakov’s team still does not notice the competitors and continues to calmly wait for the end of the preliminary round.
In another pair and in the central game, two main rivals and neighbors in the standings faced each other: “Leningradka”, which occupies third place, and “Dynamo-Ak Bars”, located one line higher. So, let’s look at this match in a little more detail.
Who won the central match of the round?
Zoran Terzic’s team came into the St. Petersburg match on an impressive 11-win streak, but their opponent was in a storm. In the last five games, the yellow and black only managed a three-point victory over Dynamo-Metar, and in February the “bees” suffered three defeats in a row, losing to Dynamo Moscow, Lokomotiv and Proton.
But how many unpleasant memories have Dynamo Kazan accumulated after matches against Leningradka this season alone? It is a defeat in the semifinals of the Centenario Cup, a failure in the semifinals of the Russian Cup and another failure in the national championship. We hope that the next meeting between these two teams will not happen again according to the blue and white scenario.
Kazan started the match with its optimal lineup. But Alexander Kashin made changes to the line of players: the fast Anastasia Chernova, who missed the previous match, and Valeria Romanova, who distinguished herself with her strong attack, appeared on the court. This is exactly what the Leningrad coach bet against the powerful visiting block. Only this time Dynamo’s formidable weapon disappointed us: only six blocks for the Kazan team compared to 12 for their rivals. The yellow-blacks were also better at implementing attacks: 47% versus 44%. Dynamo-Ak Bars volleyball players stood out in serving (6-2) and returning: 44% positive against 40% in Saint Petersburg.
At the service of Elizaveta Lukyanova, the guests quickly got used to it and took the lead at the beginning of the match. But Leningradka quickly leveled their gap and the block worked better for the hosts. With Koroleva’s serve, “Leningradka” made “+4”.
Leningradka interrupted the Dynamo-Ak Bars series
Photo: leningradka.spb.ru
Terzic reacted with a timeout, encouraged the team and with Lukyanova’s serve, Dynamo equalized the score (15:15). However, Kazan was ruined by his own mistakes in the first match, especially in attack. The team fought, but the yellow-black block was insurmountable. And Romanova’s beautiful ace ended the game – 25:22.
At the opening of the second set, the St. Petersburg volleyball players confidently took the lead 6:4. And then, with Anna Melnikova’s serve, they increased their lead to five goals. But Kazan found a weak link in the Leningrad reception: Romanova, who allowed a break in almost all formations. And when Anna Lazarenko left the service line, Dynamo was already leading: 12:11. Kazan finally reached set point: 24:20. But the incredible perseverance of the home team allowed them to make a crazy comeback: 28:26.
Leningradka interrupted the Dynamo-Ak Bars series
Photo: leningradka.spb.ru
The guests had a great start and the third set was 6:4. The volleyball players from the Neva bank did not delay the chase and the efforts of Anastasia Chernova leveled the game and then completely took the lead. The teams were neck and neck for almost the entire match (14:14, 18:18). Garelick and Chernova scored for the Wild Bees, while Pietrini and Martínez scored for the guests. Leningrad took the lead with a block and had the opportunity to end the match (24:20). But now Kazan tried to do the incredible. After the departure of Angelina Sperskaite, Dinamo recovered two goals, but did not achieve more. Leningradka won the third game with 25:22. Like the whole game: 3-0.
However, the victory in this meeting did not affect the ranking in any way: Dynamo-Ak Bars continues to occupy second place, Leningradka follows in its footsteps.
Fifth celebrations parade
On the second day, the spectators witnessed a real spectacle: three of the four matches ended in a tiebreaker! The first, still according to the Krasnoyarsk era, were Yenisei and Lokomotiv from Kaliningrad. The guests, after a successful trip to Krasnodar in the last round, coped well with the change of time zones and a strong opponent, taking the victory and three points.
And then a whole parade of fifth matches began, and all of them were in the hands of the visiting teams: “Uralochka-NTMK” was able to come back from 0:2 and snatch the victory from under the noses of “Zarechye-Odintsovo” (3:2). Following them, Chelyabinsk Dynamo-Metar, using the same scenario, snatched their two points from Tulitsa. And Sparta Nizhny Novgorod was no exception and did not allow the Kursk nuclear team to win its first match. But only in this match, on the contrary, Stanislav Salikov’s team led 2:0, but allowed the hosts to impose their game and turn the match into a shorter set.
But the third matchday did not bring the desired fight: Saratov Proton confidently defeated Dynamo Krasnodar on the visit with a score of 3:0.
Who will take eighth place?
In conclusion, let’s focus on Dinamo Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk Yenisei and Uralochka. The first two teams in this round were left without points, giving Karpol’s team a little more chance of holding on to the coveted eighth place. Currently, with 10 wins, Krasnodar is in eighth position, but is being pressured by two teams with nine wins. If you look at the schedule of the remaining matches, the situation is better for the Yekaterinburg volleyball players. They will have to play with the clubs below. But “Dynamo” and “Enisey” will have to work hard to win the remaining meetings with higher ranked teams. In the next round, Dynamo will go to Chelyabinsk, and Krasnoyarsk volleyball players will play with Proton. It is possible that everything will be decided on the last matchday, the 26th matchday, because all the clubs will play on the same day, March 20. Then we will know the complete lineup of participants who will follow.
