Moscow's Dinamo made a strong statement for the title after winning away against Zenit (Kazan) with a score of 3:1 (21:25, 25:15, 25:18, 25:20) and taking a 2-0 lead in the final series.
The Kazan team started stronger and took the first set after a good serving run and a stable Mikhailov. From then on, however, Dinamo established complete dominance – 88% in attack in the second set and decisive superiority in blocking, which broke the resistance of the hosts. In the following sets, the Moscow team controlled the rhythm with strong serves and organized play, without allowing a comeback.
Top scorers:
for Zenit: Volkov (12), Labinsky (10), Mikhailov (8)
for Dinamo: Sapozhkov (18), who played for Montana, Semyshev (16), Bogdan (13)
The series:0–2 (2:3, 1:3)
Zenit's head coach Aleksey Verbov summarized:Dinamo was better in all aspects and deservedly leads the series.
The coach of the Moscow team, Konstantin Bryanski, who is also the national team selector, added:We played more organized and imposed our style, which proved decisive.
The third match is on April 27 in Moscow.
Photo: Nikolay Varadinov
