Belogorie vs. Zenit-Kazan | SuperLeague 2025 Highlights 🏐

Each team has prepared a special uniform for the new Classics of Russian Volleyball as a reminder to fans of the iconic seasons in their history. Belogorye used the 2010 and 2013 Russian Championship kits.

The guests started the match with great confidence, leading 6-1. Belogorye's desire to score quickly and serve powerfully led to a series of unsuccessful actions. The play on the edges didn't work out, and there wasn't enough blocking to counter the regular goalscorers Maxim Mikhailov and Mikhail Labinsky. The Lions tried to bring the match back to a steady pace through defense, and the hosts excelled in this aspect. There were countless moments where they lifted the most challenging balls. Not only from Kazan's outside strikers but also from their first-tempo players. Twice the Belgorod team went from "-5" to "-2", but Zenit-Kazan always found new opportunities to make a comeback, the last of which, after Dmitry Volkov's ace and Ivan Podrebinkin's mistake, grew to 7 points - 21:14.

After Artem Volvich's ace, Zenit-Kazan took the lead in the second set, 6:4. Georgy Zabolotnikov's block against Labinsky tied the score, and after Pavel Tetyukhin's block-out and Podrebinkin's attack, the Belgorod team took the lead, 11:10. The teams played a close match until 17:17. The Lions defended at an exceptional level, and Tetyukhin repeatedly overcame the guests' organized block, leading to a 20:17 victory. As Belogory had done earlier, Zenit-Kazan's attack performance took a sharp turn for the worse. The hosts were led by Podrebinkin, who played a crucial role in the game. The opponent's mistakes and the Belgorod team's confident performance allowed them to quickly close the set in their favor, resulting in a score of 25:21.

The hosts started the next set well – 8:5. Seeing that there was no need for efficiency in the diagonal, Alexey Verbov released Drazhen Luburić to this position. He immediately distinguished himself in the attack, and his appearance on the serve made the score equal – 8:8. Konstantin Abaev began to include Volkov in the attack more often and use the pipe. Belogory tried to switch in the attack from the edge to the center and led in the score with a minimal advantage. The fate of the set was decided by the serve. It flew better for Zenit. Volkov's ace put the guests ahead – 16:15. A little later, Belogory got stuck in one formation – 16:20, and it was easy for the Kazan team to win the game – 25:19.

In three sets, the hosts had only three effective blocks. In the fourth set, they simply suffocated the champion's attack, leading 6:3. Luburić continued to break the "Lions'" defense, leading 8:7 after two powerful serves. Belogorye regained the lead, leading 12:9 after attacks by Melnikov and Tetyukhin. And when Ivan Yakovlev covered Andrey Surmachevsky's pass, who came in for Labinsky, the hosts were unstoppable – 18:11 after a triple block on Volkov. Zenit's coach began to remove the leaders from the court, giving Abaev and Volkov a break before the fifth set. The Serbian diagonals once again knocked out the Lions with a serve, but the result was not affected by this one-time success. Masliev, Tetyukhin, and Yakovlev scored the final points – 25:16.Melnikov responded to Luburic's point with an ace, resulting in a 2:1 score. However, by the time of the tiebreak, it became more challenging for the Belgorod team to maintain the level of concentration that allowed them to outperform the champion. This was due to the limited availability of players on the bench. With a bit of rest, Zenit's leaders played more reliably, while the Lions were less effective in capitalizing on their chances. Abaev's ace and Labinsky's hit gave the visitors a small lead, 5:7. Roman Poroshin's block tied the score, but Zenit-Kazan quickly regained the advantage, and Belogorye's mistakes affected the following plays. Luburic's block-out secured the victory for the Kazan club, 15:10 and 2:3.

VFV - http://www.volley.ru/