Zenit Kazan sweeps Trinity Western Spartans: FIVB Volleyball Club World Championship
The FIVB Volleyball Club World Championships started on Saturday, October 8th, with the opening match being played between Zenit Kazan of Russia and Trinity Western Spartans Vancouver belonging to Canada. Thr Russian club was too hot for the Canadians as
they lost by a clean sweep in Doha, Qatar.
Not only were the Russians able to win the match in three back to back sets, they did so by bagging each one by a considerable margin. By the time that the day was done, the final set scores stood at the following points: 25-11, 25-15 and 25-16.
Vladimir Alekno, the coach of the winning team, made the following comments at the press conference after his team had won the match: “We are happy to participate at this championship. The first match was a good experience and a chance to check the condition
of all of our players. We came here to win the title.”
On the other hand the coach of the Trinity Western Spartan Vancouver squad, Ben Josephson, shared his feelings in the following words: “The speed of the Russia players was as fast as we expected. I am happy with my guys and hope we will do better in the
next matches.”
The opening set of the match saw the Russians take the lead at 5-0, an advantage that they were able to extend into the first technical time out at 8-1. The Russians were able to speed up ahead with the Canadians trailing behind at 16-5. Before long, Zenit
Kazan had bagged itself the first set of the game at 25-11.
The second set also saw the Russians come out strong with an 8-5 lead that stretched to 13-7. The second technical time out saw the Canadians close in the gap at 16-10 but they still could not overtake their opponents who marched on ahead towards the end
of the set to seal the deal at 25-15.
Building on the confidence generated by bagging the first two sets of the game, the Russians were able to propel themselves forwards at 4-0 as soon as the third set started and carried on the lead until 11-9. The Canadian efforts all seemed half hearted
as they tried to get some sway but failed. As a result, Zenit Kazan secured the final set at 25-16.
The Russians were led by Maxim Mikhaylov who put up a total of 11 points for his team. On the other hand, the Canadian player who scored the most points was Steve Marshall as he also put up 11 points for Trinity Western.
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