Kazan, Russia, March 1, 2017. Zenit KAZAN finished the group stage of the 2017 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Men boasting a perfect record – the Russian champions claimed six wins in as many matches. The real leader of the Russian armada, Wilfredo Leon, did not play in the game against Arkas IZMIR – and the Turks were missing their top scorer, Michael Sanchez Bozhulev, too. However, both teams will continue their journey in the Playoffs 12.

Arkas IZMIR had no leader to pace up their game as Cuban-born opposite hitter Michael Sanchez Bozhulev missed the away match against the Russian champions. The Turkish team unceasingly tried to finish their attacks but all spikes of the visiting team were undeniably stopped by the Russian block (7-3, 12-6, 21-13). Zenit outside spiker Maxim Mikhailov, on the other hand, successfully finished all of his five attempts in the first set.

In the second set, the Turkish team got back on track. Outside spiker Yigit Gülmezoğlu was just outstanding, as Olympic champion Mauricio Borges Almeida Silva sealed several hard-fought points. The Turks had two set points at 24-22, but thanks to an ace from Matthew Anderson, Zenit KAZAN netted their second set win at 26-24.

At the outbreak of the third set, Mikhailov contributed a series of powerful serves, scoring three consecutive aces. To crown it all, high-precision attacks executed by Mikhailov pre-determined the fate of the set with KAZAN leading 8-2 on the way to a comprehensive 3-0 victory.  

“Tonight we had no pressure at all since the result was not a decisive factor. We simply enjoyed an opportunity to play for our pleasure, which is such a rare thing these days. I am quite happy with the team’s performance, as well as with the overall atmosphere and spirit of the game,” said the head coach of Zenit KAZAN, Vladimir Alekno, after the match.

“I asked my guys to take this match as seriously as possible, because it is truly a very rewarding experience to play against such team as Zenit KAZAN. We are very happy with the way we played in the group stage of the Champions League,” said Glenn Hoag, the head coach of Arkas IZMIR.

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