21/01/2014 20:56
Zenit KAZAN displays another show of strength to progress to Playoffs 6
2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Kazan, Russia, January 21, 2014. Russia’s Zenit KAZAN downed on Tuesday BERLIN Recycling Volleys in straight sets (25-11, 25-20, and 25-23) to follow up on their three-set victory from last week in Germany’s capital city and make the Playoffs 6 of the 2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men. Zenit KAZAN will be playing there the winners of the Italian derby featuring Lube Banca Marche MACERATA and Copra Elior PIACENZA.
Last year Zenit KAZAN and BERLIN Recycling Volleys had also crossed their ways in the Playoffs 12 of the CEV Volleyball Champions League and their clashes had always ended in a tie-break. This time the supremacy of Zenit KAZAN was not to be questioned with the players from Tatarstan not dropping a set in their matches with Germany’s champions.
Zenit KAZAN set the tempo of the game right from the go especially behind the service line, thereby following up on the tactics they had successfully implemented a week ago in Berlin. It was especially US American Matthew Anderson who shook the defense line of the BERLIN Recycling Volleys. After a single block by Russian superstar Maxim Mikhaylov on BERLIN team captain Scott Touzinsky, Zenit had widened their lead up to 10 points and as they were playing just superbly in all fundamentals, the guys around head coach Vladimir Alekno cruised to a speedy 25-11 to cash the opening set.
The second set followed the same plot with Zenit KAZAN taking a lot of risks from the service line and pressuring their opponents who could not find a way to stand that storm. Zenit quickly moved the charts up to 16:9; Robert Kromm, Scott Touzinsky and Aleksandar Spirovski could not do much to change the course of the game and with Mikhaylov showing his superior class, KAZAN pocketed a well-deserved 2:0 lead in sets and then kept that same momentum also in the third to finish it off in another 3:0 and wait now for the winners of the Italian derby to go for a “clash of the titans” in the Playoffs 6.
“Once more we did not stand a chance to win especially because of their excellent serving” commented BERLIN Recycling Volleys mentor Mark Lebedew. “We tried to find a way to stop their march with some substitutions but in the end there was nothing we could do.”
“We played a great game” said home head coach Vladimir Alekno. “The players were in a good mood and though they were a little nervous before the start of the game, this tension was quickly gone. We were definitely much stronger than BERLIN and so I decided to rest some of the starting players so as to provide the young guys with a chance to play. I am satisfied with the performance of our second lines. They helped us confirm our status as leading force. We needed to rest a bit our leaders because we have the Finals of the Russian Cup coming up next week.”
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