📢A 17-year-old setter became a coach and won!

🔥Georgi Petrov, the Bulgarian coach of "Lokomotiv-SHOR" (Novosibirsk), was penalized, but this did not prevent the team from dominating the Youth League! In the tense match against"Fakel", after Petrov was disqualified,Korney Nikolaevtook over and led the young volleyball players to a 3:2 victory. The Russian "BO Sport" reported on this interesting precedent.

👀What happened?
In the match against YUKIOR (3:1), Georgi Petrov protested against a referee's decision after a video replay at a key moment in the fourth set. Due to his vehement protest, the referees removed Petrov until the end of the match. The next day, the Russian Volleyball Federation penalized him with afine of 25,000 rublesand aone-match disqualification. His assistant Ilya Smirnov did not travel to the tournament, and only a doctor and a masseur remained on the bench.

📢Georgi Petrov:
"I found out about my dismissal on the day of the next match. There was no time to find another coach, so we decided to let the captain Korney Nikolaev lead the game. I was going to give hints through the medical staff, but the match's referee observer warned me that if I participated in this way, I would be disqualified for longer. So, Korney took the initiative and did a wonderful job!"

💡Korney Nikolaev was not upset, but took full responsibility for the team.As captain, he not only led the game, but also managed requests for video replays, called timeouts, and made substitutions! Inthe tie-break at 14:13for the opponent, Nikolaev surprisingly called asecond timeoutto break the server's concentration. This unexpected move, often used by the legendary Vladimir Alekno, led to success for the team.

"My coach told me not to get distracted, and I was ready for the responsibility. This was important for us and for him,"Nikolaev said after the victory.

🏆 Withfive wins from five matches, "Lokomotiv" tops the standings and is already a favorite for the title in the Youth League!

photos:www.lokovolley.com