Luxembourg, March 4, 2021. Dinamo Moscow are the second finalist in this year’s edition of the CEV Volleyball Cup. On Thursday, they seized a straight sets victory over the French team of Montpellier Castelnau UC, and thanks to the 3-1 win in the home match, congratulated themselves with reaching the final. An excellent performance on the serve by Pavel Pankov helped Dinamo claim the victory, while Sam Deroo topped the charts recording 12 points. In the Grand Finale, the players around head coach Konstantin Brianskii will lock horns with another Russian team – Zenit SAINT PETERSBURG, who on Wednesday survived a Golden Set thriller vs the Belgian team of VC Greenyard MAASEIK. The battles for the #CEVCupM Gold will take place with home and away matches scheduled for March 16 and March 23, respectively.
MONTPELLIER Castelnau UC (FRA) vs. Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS) 0-3 (23-25, 22-25, 10-25)
Both teams started in the match with some powerful performance in the middle. Dinamo pushed hard on the serve and made it difficult for Montpellier’s reception. With the set unfolding, the French tried to find their game and started breathing down their opponents’ necks. Even though the team from Moscow were leading at 19-16, the hosts could equalise which made head coach Konstantin Brianskii call for a time out. It worked for a moment with Tsvetan Sokolov’s hard spike for 20-19. The French, however, weren’t giving up and tied the score again. A block by Ilia Vlasov followed a new time out, this time for the French. Although the hosts put up some fight in these last moments, Pavel Pankov with a monster block put an end to the discussion and Dinamo started the match in their favour. Vlasov set the pace for Dinamo in the opening set with as many as eight points of his own.
Montpellier entered better in the second set taking an 8-4 lead. With the score standing at 9-7, Tsvetan Sokolov suffered an ankle injury and had to be replaced by Romanas Shkulyavichus. Javier Gonzalez Panton from the French team was on a strong serve momentum but the Russians could react. Vadym Likhosherstov with an ace helped the guests get closer at 10-9. With Pankov strong on the serve once again, Dinamo could equalise and even take the lead at 15-14. It was a close call (17-17) with pressure playing a role in both teams’ performance (resulting in service errors). Dinamo, however, managed to cope better with the tension and emerged victorious at 25-22.
Having secured a spot in the #CEVCupM final, Dinamo Moscow entered the court in the third set enjoying the game and that was easily seen by their performance, taking the lead at 11-4. The man of the hour, Pankov on the serve made it once again difficult for Montpellier’s reception, and the French suffered with organising their attacks. The hosts couldn’t find a proper answer to the sharp and fast attacks of the Moscow team and until the very end of the set, Dinamo remained truly dominant and deservedly claimed the victory.
Konstantin Brianskii, head coach of Dinamo Moscow stated: "We are very happy about this victory and this qualification for the #CEVCupM final. Montpellier is a great team, but tonight we were stronger."
Olivier Lecat, head coach of Montpellier Castelnau UC: "It is with great regret that we lose the match tonight. However, I believe that we did our best. There were times when the team showed its best game. Participating in the CEVCupM was a great experience."