16/04/2016 18:40
Zenit KAZAN overcome difficult start to edge hosts and vie for fourth CL crown
2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Krakow, Poland, April 16, 2016. Russia’s Zenit KAZAN caught a difficult start to their semi-final match with Asseco Resovia RZESZOW and struggled for almost one set and a half but once again their coach Vladimir Alekno showed he knows what to do in order to overcome challenging situations – as much as he did at the London Olympics in 2012 when Russia came back from two sets down to win gold in a dramatic final with Brazil. This time around Alekno replaced starting setter Alexander Butko with the much younger Igor Kobzar to find another winning recipe and edge the Final Four hosts by 3-1 (22-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-21). On Sunday Zenit KAZAN will be vying for what would be an all-time record – i.e. a fourth CEV Volleyball Champions League title following those previously claimed by the team from Tatarstan in 2008, 2012 and 2015. If they accomplish that mission, Zenit will also extend Russia’s supremacy in the competition to five years in a row.
A light show including a 3D projection followed by the performance of a group of cheerleaders dressed in Poland’s national colours set the tone for the most anticipated Volleyball weekend of the year as fans were taking their seats on the stands of the imposing and iconic TAURON Arena. Displaying their well-known white-red striped shirts, the supporters of Resovia were standing on their feet already well before their favourite players entered the court and a contagious sense of anticipation and excitement was to be perceived.
The renowned DJ and speaker duo Kulaga & Magiera did a good job in entertaining the crowd up until the moment the starting line-ups for last year’s gold and silver medallists were announced. It was time to focus solely on Volleyball and on the achievement of that much desired spot in the final match of the CEV Volleyball Champions League.
The semi-final starring Zenit and Resovia added yet another chapter to the Russia-Poland Volleyball rivalry with the hosts hoping to make amends for the straight loss they had suffered in last year’s gold medal match at Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin.
The home team came out with all guns blazing leading the way in the early stages of the opening set (5-2, 8-6) until Zenit eventually drew level at 10-all. A block on the Cuban-born outside spiker of Zenit, Wilfredo Leon, restored Resovia’s leadership in the match and this was further extended following a ‘lucky’ service winner by home star Bartosz Kurek (13-10). Resovia’s coach Andrzej Kowal, however, had to stop the actions after Zenit closed in at 13-all and his decision came at the right time since RZESZOW responded by scoring three points in a row to call for the second technical time-out. The teams played catch up time and again with Zenit KAZAN making it 17-all before Resovia edged ahead again at 22-19. The home guys set their sights on the finish line after blocking Leon and the party in the stands got started as Maxim Mikhailov served out of bounds for Resovia to claim the opening set 25-22.
Resovia continued their show also in the second set with an ace by their American spiker Thomas Jaeschke moving the score to 6-2 before the first technical time-out was called with the home side comfortably leading the way by 8-3. However, it was still a way too early to relax as Zenit KAZAN fought back to 9-all and the Russian armada used a few mistakes by their opponent to claim their first real lead in the match at 16-13. At this stage Nikolay Penchev joined the actions and helped Resovia narrow their deficit down a bit, but Zenit seemed to have finally found more consistency in their game after their younger setter Igor Kobzar replaced 2012 Olympic champion Alexander Butko. Resovia closed in at 23-22 with the help of their captain Aleh Akhrem but Mikhailov responded in style to secure two set balls for KAZAN. Leon wasted the first opportunity serving into the net and equality was restored after the Cuban star stepped on the 3m line (24-24) but he immediately made amends for these unusual mistakes scoring two in a row to level the match (26-24).
Zenit seemed to have changed gear and after a difficult start to the match the Tatars showed more and more what the reigning CL champions are capable of, their efforts resulting in a pretty dominant 8-3 lead in the third set. Things looked increasingly difficult for the home side (10-4) and coach Kowal asked for another time-out to try and find a way to stand the Russian storm. Bartosz Kurek & Co. played with a lot of energy and determination but the well-oiled Russian machine worked just fine (16-9) and did not leave any chance to the home team, sealing their set win on a service error by Jaeschke (25-18).
At this stage the match had turned into a make-or-break bout for Resovia and the hosts put up a fight to stay alive in the competition. The fans were again standing on their feet but a two-point lead for RZESZOW (7-5) was a short-lived one (7-7). Zenit KAZAN could count on two outstanding players such as Leon and Mikhailov to keep the pressure high on a home side that was nevertheless up to the task, with Kurek and Akhrem being their main assets. At 16-15 for Asseco Resovia, the supporters displayed a huge banner with the script ‘Resovia – Territory of Wolves’ hoping to further motivate their heroes, but Zenit KAZAN showed no fear edging ahead at 21-18. This break proved to be decisive, Alexander Gutsalyuk piled up four Russian match balls at 24-20 before Leon silenced the record-breaking crowd in attendance (25-21).
Zenit KAZAN coach Vladimir Alekno said: “We made eight service errors in the first set, which means that one of our main weapons did not work at all. My players got afraid of making mistakes and so the same error was repeated time and again. However, we have to understand that it is not easy to adjust to this huge hall where we have had only one and a half training sessions. On top of this, the atmosphere that surrounded the match did also help the home team of Resovia. As for our overall performance, I am not too happy with it.”
Home star Bartosz Kurek: “The fans were perfect, they supported us through good and tough moments and I hope they will do the same tomorrow and that we can get the bronze medal also for them. We were missing arguments against their game. We lacked a bit of cool head, but on the other hand you need to take risks against such a team and this resulted in many mistakes from our side.
“I hope we can be calmer in tomorrow’s match and that perhaps our opponent will be more ‘forgiving’ of any errors. We controlled the match at the beginning, but then the match was on Zenit’s side. In the fourth set we played more point by point, but skills of individual players decided about their advantage in the end. It would be nice to finish the competition with a victory and reward our fans at least with the bronze medal. I can assure them that we won’t give up, just like we tried today. We didn’t win, but we were not afraid to face Zenit KAZAN and I think this attitude will be beneficial tomorrow.”
On his preference for the bronze medal match: “I don’t want to face my previous club, Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA, in fact I actually wish them to reach the final and perhaps take the title off Zenit KAZAN’s hands. I have only great memories from my time there so I wish them to finish the Final Four on top of the podium.”
Click here for further information and visit the official website www.assecoresovia.pl/en/newsfinalfour/
Click here for a live gallery of the competition; on social media please use the official competition hashtags #CEVChampionsLeagueM and #CLF4Krakow
|