15/03/2016 19:41
Dinamo MOSCOW celebrate straight-sets win in first round of Russian derby
2016 CEV Volleyball Cup - Men
Moscow, Russia, March 15, 2016. Dinamo MOSCOW claimed on Tuesday night the first leg of the 2016 CEV Volleyball Cup – Men semi-finals cruising to a dominant 3-0 victory in the Russian derby with Gazprom-Ugra SURGUT (25-23, 25-21, 25-18). This coming Saturday Dinamo and Gazprom-Ugra will be crossing their ways once more and their second matchup will determine one of two finalists in Europe’s second most prestigious club competition where Dinamo are hoping to retain the title they won last year – and in 2012 as well. In order to stay alive in the race for a spot in the final, Gazprom-Ugra will have to win the re-match 3-0 or 3-1 as well as the golden set that would eventually follow.
Dinamo MOSCOW came out with all guns blazing and after claiming an early 8-4 lead in the opening set, the aces by Ivan Zaytsev and Dmitry Shcherbinin contributed to a comfortable 16-9 advantage at the second technical time-out. Kostyantin Bakun responded in similar style for SURGUT and he cut their deficit down from 19-13 to 19-17 while standing behind the service line. As Dinamo MOSCOW seemed to be struggling to stand their opponent’s comeback, Maxwell Holt stamped a vital block which paved the way for a 25-23 set win by the gold medallists of the 2015 CEV Volleyball Cup.
The second set was a close affair right from the beginning, even though Dinamo could rely on a small lead for most of the time. The Serbian-born setter of Gazprom-Ugra, Aleksa Brdjovic, delivered a spectacular action when running to the other side of the net to catch the ball, which was eventually hammered down by Bakun. However, Dinamo MOSCOW used their solid block to prevent SURGUT from scoring towards the end of the set and a powerful attack by Zaytsev sealed the 25-21 win for the Muscovites.
Dinamo MOSCOW opened the third set with another series of powerful serves by Zaytsev and Holt (8-4) and their lead looked unquestionable at the second technical time-out (16-8). At this stage the fate of the game seemed to be written and Dinamo brought it to an end at 25-18 on a service error by Anton Semyshev to celebrate a well-deserved 3-0 victory.
Ivan Zaytsev (pictured) who paced Dinamo with 19 points said after the match: “It was a good performance by the whole team and each player did really well and looked determined to achieve the goal we had set. This was a very important match for us and what really matters in the end is the result. We will now start preparing for the re-match in Surgut and we are very much hoping to make the final,” he added. Dinamo would meet there the eventual winners of the clash starring Belgium’s Knack ROESELARE and Germany’s BERLIN Recycling Volleys.
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