The group stage matches of the men's Russian Volleyball Cup tournament continue in Kemerovo. 20 teams from the Super League and High League A are participating. The semi-finalists of the Russian Championship - Zenit-Kazan, Belogorie, Zenit St. Petersburg, and Dynamo-LO - qualified directly for the "Final Six", which will take place from May 6 to 11 in Kazan.
The remaining 16 teams are divided into four groups, with the winners of each qualifying for the playoffs, which will consist of two matches with a possible "golden set" in case of a tie. The matches will be played on April 12–13, and the return legs will take place on April 19–20.
Three of the group winners are already known: "Dynamo" (Moscow) with Tsvetan Sokolov and Maxim Sapozhkov, "Lokomotiv" (Novosibirsk) with Plamen Konstantinov Vasily Molotkov, and "Fakel" (Novy Urengoy).
"Dynamo" successively defeated "Kama", "Orenburzhie", and ASK. In the match against "Orenburzhie", Ilya Vlasov accumulated 14 points (including five blocks) with a utility rating of +13. In the match against ASK, Maxim Sapozhkov, who also played for Montana, scored 24 points, making five aces.
"Fakel" won its group despite a loss to the hosts in Ufa, thanks to "Dynamo-Ural's" defeat.
In the group stage, "Lokomotiv" at home successively defeated "Nova" (3:1), "Universitet" (3:0), and "Gazprom-Yugra" (3:1). In these matches, the diagonal player Rajab Shahbanmirzaev was in the starting lineup, while Vasily Molotkov, who played a full season in Bulgarian Montana, was the second diagonal player. He scored 14 points in the match against "Gazprom-Yugra". Ilya Kazachenkov did not appear on the court, and Dmitry Lyzik missed all matches due to injury.
"Dynamo" (Moscow) will play against the winner of Group D for a spot in the "Final Six". The matches in Group D will conclude on Tuesday, with "Kuzbass", "Yenisei", "Yaroslavich", and "Tyumen" competing in Kemerovo. Kuzbass with Asparuh Asparuhov currently holds first place with two victories, as does Yenisei, but with a better game difference. Everything will be decided tomorrow in their match.
We remind you that the 2024 Russian Cup in December was won by Moscow's "Dynamo", but the federation moved the 2025 edition of the tournament to the spring.
