Russian Zenit Kazan beats Trentino to earn a spot in the finals – Volleyball news
Two top volleyball teams from Russia and Italy, the Zenit Kazan and Trentino PlanetWin 365, crossed their paths in the second semi-final of 2012 CEV Men’s Champions League on Saturday.
The crucial match continued for almost two hours and featured four sets. Following an intense fight on the centre court, Zenit KAZAN hit the mark and claimed 3-1 (33-31, 20-25, 23-25, 17-25) victory.
The overcrowded Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland hosted the thrilling match. By defeating Italian opponent, Russian Kazan joined hosts of the Final Round Poland in the final match.
Russia’s victory was very much credited to skipper of the team, Maxim MIKHAILOV who enjoyed a top form in the match. He was named the top scorer of the match as he helped his team with 26 points.
Equally talented and in-form wing spiker Evgeny Sivozhelez played his part and emerged as second-best scorer of the match. He scored 22 points.
On the other hand, Italian trio of KAZIYSKI, JUANTORENA PORTUONDO, and STOKR struggled to cope with Russian rivals. They added 19, 17, and 16 points, respectively but failed to celebrate victory.
The opening set of the match was an action-packed thriller from start to end. Both teams showed good energy and score remained incredibly close. Italy’s Jan Stokr and Kaziyski formed a good combo and put Trentino in lead with two-point margin. However, the
Russian attackers responded well and hit the equalizer at 12-all. Zenit Kazan continued with hard-hitting and went up before Trentino levelled the score at 19-all. Both teams jumped on every little opportunity to score points. In the end, Kazan got slightly
better and managed to bag first-set win, 33-31.
The game entered second set, while Zenit Kazan faced strong resistance from the Trentino. Team Italia used all its effort to overcome the opponent. The hard work paid off and Trentio drew level by winning second set, 25-20. Nevertheless, the Russian hotshots
crushed the hopes of Italy to play in the final match. Kazan captured third and fourth sets and announced match victory.
In the post-match comments, Russian mentor Vladimir Alekno stated, “I do not want to talk much about today’s game because the final of tomorrow is the most important moment of this weekend. Anyway, I am certainly happy with the result, but I know that to
edge PGE Skra we will have to deliver a perfect performance.”
He further added, “The challenge is certainly a help, not just because we won one point, but especially since it takes some pressure away from the players and the referees, who are so cooler and can better control their emotions on the court.”
On contrary, the Italian coach Radostin Stoytchev was evidently not happy about the outcome of the important match. He regretted the loss and opined that his team did not use the opportunities. He concluded that it was not match-winning performance by Trentino.
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