06/02/2014 23:15
Zenit KAZAN confirms Russian supremacy with straight victory over PIACENZA
2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Piacenza, Italy, February 6, 2014. On Thursday Zenit KAZAN confirmed once more the status of the Russian teams as major forces to be reckoned with as the players from the capital city of Tatarstan downed Italy’s Copra Elior PIACENZA in straight sets (25-23, 25-22, and 25-22) in the first round of the Playoffs 6 and are now only one step away from a spot in the Final Four of the 2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men.
This also turned into the first home defeat for Italy’s vice champions since February 24, 2013. The hosts were evidently sidelined by the absence of their team captain Hristo Zlatanov while another pillar of their roster, Alessandro Fei, joined the game but was soon replaced by Luca Tencati due to illness.
Zenit KAZAN showed their class with Evgeny Sivozhelez top scoring in the end with 16 points (with two aces and two blocks) while Matthew Anderson and Maxim Mikhailov added another 13 apiece, with four and three aces respectively. The Russians impressed with their serves and this way they literally crashed the defense line of PIACENZA. The home heroes fought nevertheless from the start up to the end of the game with Denys Kaliberda and Luca Vettori registering 13 and 11 points, while Robertlandy Simon and Samuele Papi chipped in with 10 and eight respectively.
“Even though we won tonight we have to keep our feet on the ground” said Russian mentor Vladimir Alekno. “We will play the return game at home but this does not mean that we already have booked our ticket to the Final Four Tournament. We still have to wait for the second game which is the one that counts the most.”
“We fought until the end but I have to congratulate Zenit KAZAN who showed superb Volleyball tonight and put us under pressure” commented Samuele Papi. “They served really strong. We tried to play our best, and did so especially in the second set.”
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