Luxembourg, February 25, 2020.  Zenit Saint Petersburg are the first semifinallist in the men’s CEV Volleyball Cup 2020. On Tuesday, the Russian team managed a second victory over their quarterfinal opponent Hypo Tirol AlpenVolleys Haching to secure their spot among the last four of the tournament.

At home at the Sibur Arena, Zenit mastered a 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-10, 25-15) win over their German visitors, following the five-set first-leg away victory in Unterhaching last week.

On the wings of a six-point run, AlpenVolleys took a 10-6 lead in the first set, but could not hold on to it for long. With Gyorgy Grozer and Oreol Camejo (both pictured above) leading the way, Zenit quickly bounced back and gained control on the way to a 25-22 close. Improving their serving and capitalising on the many unforced errors on Zenit’s side, the German side levelled the match with a 25-23 win of the second set. From this point on, the match was completely one-sided, with the home team asserting their superiority towards emphatic 25-10 and 25-15 at the end of the sets.

With 21 points to his name, Gyorgy Grozer was the best scorer of the match, followed by Oreol Camejo with 18 and AlpenVolleys’ Jerome Cross with 15.

Tuomas Sammelvuo, head coach of Zenit Saint Petersburg: "I’m really satisfied with the way we played in the third and the fourth sets and I thank my guys for it. But it was a very close game in the first and the second sets. And there is my bad as a coach..."

Stefan Chrtiansky, head coach of Hypo Tirol AlpenVolleys Haching: "We served very well in sets one and two, but after that Zenit pressured us. The Russians served very well, especially float. Zenit is a very good team. I wish them luck in the next round."

Whether Zenit will battle against compatriots Lokomotiv Novosibirsk or Belgium’s Lindemans Aalst for a place in the big final will become clear on Wednesday, when the second leg between these two teams will take place.


For more info, go to the CEV Cup 2020 section.