Luxembourg, February 24, 2021. Both Russian participants in the CEV Volleyball Cup 2021 - Men semifinals, Dinamo Moscow and Zenit Saint Petersburg, took four-set victories at home, over France’s Montpellier Castelnau UC and Belgium’s Greenyard Maaseik, respectively, in Wednesday’s first-leg encounters to gain the maximum advantage ahead of next week’s away matches en route to the big final.
Dinamo Moscow (RUS) vs Montpellier Castelnau UC (FRA) 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 13-25, 25-21)
Dinamo stormed into the match on a 4-0 run, but with a four-point run of their own, Castelnau turned it around to an 8-7 lead. A tough battle went on through the end of the first set, but when it counted the most, the home team’s offence, spearheaded by Bulgarian opposite Tsvetan Sokolov, made the difference towards a 25-21 win.
The second set was completely one-sided, with the Russian squad clearly dominating from start to finish. With Belgian outside Sam Deroo on fire at the net, the home team stepped up their spiking efforts to open up a wide gap. Sokolov hit the winner to end the set at 25-16.
Castelnau shocked Dinamo with an eight-point run to start the third set on Ryan Sclater’s serving spree. The French team improved their performance on all counts, especially in blocking, with Danny Demyanenko delivering four stuffs towards the emphatic 25-13 close.
Back in the game for set four, the Russians could not hold on to the four-point lead they had at 9-5. Castelnau levelled the score and were even occasionally up a point, but the epilogue was all about Dinamo. Yaroslav Podlesnykh showed no mercy from the serving line, while Ilia Vlasov fired the last two points through the middle to finish it all off at 25-21.
Tsvetan Sokolov scored the match high of 22 points, while Dinamo’s setter Pavel Pankov finished with an impressive tally of five aces. Ryan Sclater, with 14 points to his name, was Castelnau’s best scorer of the match.
The return game is scheduled on March 4, at 19:00 local time at the Jacques Chaban Delmans sports hall in Castelnau-le-Lez.
Konstantin Brianskii, head coach of Dinamo Moscow: “After winning the second set we decided that we had won the game. But the game is over when a team wins three sets. So the third set by our team was disastrous. In spite of that I am satisfied with the result. We made a comeback in the fourth set and won the game. We will analyze this match and find our mistakes. We have a very difficult timetable and have no time for full-value training process. But it isn’t the reason that could stop us from reaching our goals.”
Tsvetan Sokolov, opposite of Dinamo Moscow: “I think that nobody is satisfied by this kind of game. In the first set we played well, in the second - very well, and then we thought that the game was over. The French teams always play very well in the defence. In a difficult situation, we helped each other and won the game. In France we could win just two sets, but we won’t think about it. Our goal is a second win in Montpellier.”
Olivier Lecat, head coach of Montpellier Castelnau UC: “It was a hard game. We expected a big fight and we got it. It’s very difficult to play against such a team, but we showed that we could contend with Dinamo. During the third set and during 80 per cent of the fourth set we played very well. We believed in our skills and our philosophy.”
Alexis Gonzalez, libero of Montpellier Castelnau UC: “I have good memories about Moscow and my career in Dinamo. Today’s game was good, as both teams played well. We acted together and fought for each other, but Dinamo are a high-quality team. Today they were better.”
Zenit Saint Petersburg (RUS) vs VC Greenyard Maaseik (BEL) 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 26-24, 26-24)
Inspired by the home fans, Zenit started the game with four points in a row and, taking advantage of Greenyard’s many unforced errors, managed to hold on to their lead throughout the first set. The gap went as wide as seven points at 14-7 and 15-8, but at the end of the set, the score was 25-20 Zenit’s way.
With Ivan Podrebinkin hammering the spikes, Zenit maintained a slight lead in the second set, not without the help of more mistakes on Greenyard’s side. But after 20-19, the Belgians scored four consecutive points to step ahead for the first time in the set. Moments later, Pieter Verhees was celebrating a 25-23 win with his teammates after delivering a sizzling kill through the middle.
The third set went pretty much the other way around. Zenit recovered from a three-point deficit and the first time they took the lead was at 21-20 on a blistering ace by Egor Kliuka. Greenyard stayed close behind to deny Zenit’s first set point, but on the next one, Dmitrii Pashitskii fired a rocket from the serving line to close it off at 26-24.
Set four was even more nerve-wracking than the previous two. The lead went back and forth several times and the closing moments were so intense that match points were delivered or denied with serving errors. Finally, Zenit’s French setter Antoine Brizard put the crucial touch to change the ball’s trajectory and make it unsaveable on the Belgian side for 26-24 and the victory.
Three players, Zenit’s Ivan Podrebinkin and Egor Kliuka and Greenyard’s Jolan Cox, shared the top scorer honours of the match with 18 points apiece.
The eventual winner of this semifinal series will be known on March 3, when the two sides meet again at 20:30 local time at the Steengoed Arena in Maaseik.
Zenit's Egor Kliuka in action
Tuomas Sammelvuo, head coach of Zenit Saint Petersburg: “We knew that it would be a really hard and close game for us. The style of many good European teams is very defensive, and Greenyard are one of them. I'm very glad that we won tonight. And of course, it's very important we gave only one set to our opponents. We expect a very difficult second game.”
Egor Kliuka, outside hitter of Zenit Saint Petersburg: “It was not a surprise for us that Greenyard are very good at defence and teamwork. Anyway, we should hit with more power and accuracy. Thanks to our fans for their support!”
Joel Banks, head coach of Greenyard Maaseik: “I’m really proud of my team tonight. We showed character, passion and good quality of volleyball. But we made some small mistakes... When you play against a team like Zenit, you should take all of your chances. Maybe we deserved to win two sets, but in any case, we have another game at home and we will try to win it.”
Jelte Maan, outside hitter of Greenyard Maaseik: “Zenit are a great club! And we showed a very good performance tonight. Unfortunately, one set wasn't enough for the win. We will fight in the second game.”
For more details, stats and photos, visit the CEV Volleyball Cup 2021 - Men competition page.