Russia - Superliga 2010/2011


  • Zenit Kazan
    Setters
    1 Lloy Ball (USA)
    10 Vadim Ozhiganov
    12 Alexey Babeshin
    Opposites
    9 Alexey Cheremisin
    16 Pavel Zacharov
    18 Maxim Mikhaylov
    24 Vadim Kilchitskiy
    Middle Blockers
    3 Nikolay Apalikov
    4 Andrey Egorchev
    14 Alexander Abrosimov
    19 Evgeny Zlobin
    Outside Hitters
    2 Albert Stroev
    6 Maxim Shpilev
    7 Maxim Panteleymonenko
    8 Sergey Tetyukhin
    10 Reid Priddy (USA)
    13 Pavel Kolesnikov
    21 Pavel Golovanov
    23 Vitaly Matychenko
    Liberos
    15 Alexey Obmochaev
    17 Vladislav Babichev


    Lokomotiv-Belogorie Belgorod
    Setters
    10 Giacomo Sintini (ITA)
    16 Sergey Bagrey
    Opposites
    1 Stanislav Dineykin
    14 Anton Fomenko
    Middle Blockers
    6 Alejandro Spaijc (ARG)
    7 Oleg Sychev
    9 Artem Smolyar
    13 Dmitriy Muserskiy
    19 Alexey Shamsi
    Outside Hitters
    3 Alexandr Kosarev
    4 Taras Khtey
    8 Denis Biryukov
    15 Dmitry Ilinykh
    Liberos
    5 Gleb Kashitsin
    18 Sergey Okunev


    Dynamo Moscow
    Setters
    5 Sergey Grankin
    9 Pavel Zaytsev
    Opposites
    10 Roman Iakovlev
    15 Pavel Kruglov
    Middle Blockers
    1 Alexey Ostapenko
    7 Aleksey Kazakov
    14 Shcherbinin Dimitry
    18 Dmitriy Shestak
    Outside Hitters
    2 Aleksandr Markin
    11 Alexandr Korneev
    13 Peter Veres (HUN)
    17 Dante Amaral (BRA)
    Liberos
    3 Stepanyan Khachatur
    4 Roman Bragin


    Lokomotiv Novosibirsk
    Setters
    1 Andrey Zubkov
    12 Alexandr Butko
    17 Konstantin Osipov
    Opposites
    6 Nikolay Pavlov
    7 Filipp Voronkov
    Middle Blockers
    2 Sergey Anoykin
    5 Andrey Aschev
    8 Matias Raymaekers (BEL)
    14 Maxim Kulikov
    Outside Hitters
    4 Yuriy Shakirov
    11 Aleksandr Tkachev
    13 Nikolay Leonenko
    15 Anton Dubrovin
    16 Tuomas Sammelvuo (FIN)
    Liberos
    9 Evgeniy Mitkov
    10 Valeriy Komarov


    Fakel Novy Urengoi
    Setters
    5 Vladislav Zhloba
    14 Kevin Hansen (USA)
    Opposites
    9 Mikhail Beketov
    15 Konstantin Bakun
    Middle Blockers
    10 Igor Rossamakhin
    12 Alexandr Mastyuk
    16 Anton Astashenkov
    17 Alexandr Kritsky
    Outside Hitters
    1 Alexandr Buts
    2 Anton Kulikovsky
    6 Evgeny Sivozhelez
    11 Dmitry Krasikov
    Libero
    3 Alexey Lipezin
    13 Alexandr Sokolov


    Iskra Odintsovo
    Setters
    8 Igor Nazarkin
    9 Konstantin Lesik
    17 Sergey Makarov
    Opposites
    2 Anton Mysin
    10 Jochen Schops (GER)
    Middle Blockers
    3 Alexander Bogomolov
    4 Evgeniy Zlobin
    6 Alexey Kuleshov
    11 Sergey Rokhin
    Outside Hitters
    1 Denis Kalinin
    5 Pavel Abramov
    12 Kirill Guz
    13 Guillaume Samica (FRA)
    14 Alexander Susanin
    15 Alexey Spiridonov
    Libero
    16 Alexey Verbov


    Gazprom-Ugra Surgut
    Setters
    13 Igor Kobzar
    17 Artem Khabibulin
    Opposites
    1 Andrey Sedykh
    14 Vasily Nosenko
    Middle Blockers
    2 Ilya Parkhomchuk
    3 Sergey Ershov
    4 Maxim Tsibran
    11 Lukasz Kadziewicz (POL)
    16 Alexandr Gutsalyuk
    Outside Hitters
    5 Makar Bestuzhev
    10 Boyarchuk Mikhail
    15 Igor Shulepov
    18 Alexey Rodichev
    Libero
    6 Kirill Gushin
    12 Roman Martynyuk


    Yaroslavich Yaroslavl
    Setters
    9 Vadim Khamuttskikh
    15 Roman Arhipov
    Opposites
    8 Semen Poltavskiy
    11 Alexandr Klimkin
    Middle Blockers
    1 Arkady Kozlov
    2 Aleksandr Ivanov
    5 Konstantin Pyatak
    12 Igor Filippov
    Outside Hitters
    3 Andrey Titich
    4 Bojan Janic (SRB)
    17 Sergey Kindinov.
    18 Vitaly Zhurov
    Libero
    5 Ilya Chibirov
    16 Dmitry Kirichenko


    Ural Ufa
    Setters
    2 Oleg Samsonychev
    4 Denis Garkushenko
    Opposites
    3 Clayton Stanley (USA)
    5 Andrey Maximov
    Middle Blockers
    1 Alexey Samoylenko
    12 Artem Volvich
    13 Grigory Afinogenov
    Outside Hitters
    7 Maxim Botin
    8 Alexey Bovduy
    10 Roman Danilov
    15 Robert Kromm (GER)
    Libero
    9 Artem Ermakov


    Dynamo-Yantar Kaliningrad
    Setters
    Donald Suxho (USA)
    Denis Ignatiev
    Opposites
    Ahmed Salah (EGY)
    Maxim Tereshin
    Andrey Tkachenko
    Middle Blockers
    Maxim Proskurnya
    Sergei Tretyakov
    Vitaly Mosov
    Alexander Kryvets
    Outside Hitters
    Alexandr Platonov
    Dmitry Lekomtsev
    Ilya Zhilin
    Stanislav Eremin
    Liberos
    Konstantin Sidenko
    Dmitry Kovyryaev


    Dynamo Krasnodar
    Setters
    Maxim Shulgin
    Konstantin Ushakov
    Opposites
    Rodrigo Pinto Rivaldo (BRA)
    Jaroslav Nortenko
    Middle Blockers
    Alexey Ezhov
    Leonid Kuznetsov
    Eugene Mosolkin
    Outside Hitters
    Cleber De Oliveira (BRA)
    Sergey Latyshev
    Alexander Mochalov
    Bogdan Olifer
    Liberos
    Alexandr Yanutov
    Maxim Maximov


    Kuzbass Kemerovo
    Setters
    Dmitry Bagriy
    Alexey Bardoc
    Opposites
    Sergey Baranov
    Pavel Moroz
    Middle Blockers
    David Lee (USA)
    Konstantin Poroshin
    Vitaly Izbitsky
    Mikhail Scherbakov
    Outside Hitters
    Björn Andrae (GER)
    Vladimir Melnik
    Eugene Khrishuk
    Yury Zinko
    Libero
    Vitaly Evdoshenko
    Eugene Galatov

  • Wow, these three all look REALLY strong. Especial Kazan...


    What happened to Alexey Ostapenko? How come I never see him play anymore. I thought he was hugely talented. They use to call him ace-stapenko! :super: :love: :whistle: :teach: :wavy:

  • Dynamo Moscow have weakest team in the last few years :whistle: IMO Zenit is main candidate for the title this year, Lokomotiv Belgorod will be very strong in home matches, so I see them in final again. Iskra Odintsovo have decent team (Abramov, Samica, Verbov, Egorchev, Schops, Kuleshov etc.), also new coach - Santilli from Jastrzebski Wegiel :whistle: Lokomotiv Novosibirsk & Fakel Novy Urengoy lost many important players so I don't see them high as last season. :teach:

  • What happened to Alexey Ostapenko? How come I never see him play anymore. I thought he was hugely talented. They use to call him ace-stapenko! :super: :love: :whistle: :teach: :wavy:


    Ostapenko got injured during the Olympic Games. He didn't play whole season 2008/09 (just some sets during 2 quaterfinal matches against Ural Ufa). On April 2009 he has surgery. In season 09/10 he was in roster only for 4 games and didn't play much. He was also in team Dynamo-2, but I don't know if for play or just train.

  • Ah okay thanx for the info Justyna :) Helpful as always.

  • RUSSIAN SUPERCUP 2010



    23rd October, "Basket Hall", Kazan



    Zenit Kazan - Lokomotiv Belgorod 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-16)



    Zenit Kazan: Ball 1, Mikhaylov 17, Tetyukhin 7, Panteleymonenko 8, Apalikov 7, Abrosimov 10, Babichev (L), Obmochaev (L), Priddy 3.


    Lokomotiv Belgorod: Sintini, Dineykin 2, Khtey 6, Biryukov 10, Muserskiy 10, Spajic 7, Kosarev (L), Illynich 6, Bagrey, Fomenko, Sychev 1.

  • The Supercup game was the official start of the Russian volleyball season. However, yesterday Zenit was deifnitely better than Lokomotiv. They showed devastating serves, it was the element that more or less decided the first set, the rest of the game had almost no competition.. Bad official debut for Sintini, he didn't show anything promising yesterday, surely he would need time to adjust to the Russian way of playing. Dineykin was quite mediocre as well, I think he is quite far away from his brightest years, I don't know how his season will develop. An interesting new role for Alexander Kosarev who played the whole game as a libero! Belgorod needs to work very hard to be able to start the league games and the IECL as expected. On the other side, Zenit still looks impressive even though Priddy is not in his best shape, with him as an option at 4 alongisde Tetyukhin and Panteleymonenko, and Maxim Mikhaylov opposite to Ball Zenit remains the main favourite for the title! I'd love to watch this team against our CSKA :)

  • Semifinal stage of the Russian Cup to be held in four cities
    The semifinal stage of the Russian Cup will be held in four cities – Nizhnevartovsk, Surgut, Novosibirsk and Moscow. Only the winners of the various preliminary groups will move to the Final four that is scheduled for late December. The everlasting interest to this tournament is also supported by the fact that the winner of the Russian Cup will book a ticket to join the 2012 CEV Champions League.
    The matches of the semifinal stage will run across the above mentioned venues through November 9-11, 2010.
    The defending champions of Zenit KAZAN will be tested for strength by the seasoned tournament fighters Yaroslavich YAROSLAVL and Ural UFA, both clubs stemming from the Superleague, and Ugra-Samotlor NIZHNEVARTOVSK that will be desperately supported by the local fans. The game featuring young Russian star Maxim Mikhaylov, who moved from Yaroslavl to Kazan this summer, against his former team where he majestically developed as a player is of special interest in this group.
    Lokomotiv BELGOROD will fight against the last season Superleague failure Lokomotiv EKATERINBURG, Nova NOVOKUIBYSHEVSK from the second Russian league and the host team Gazprom-Ugra SURGUT, which is starting soon its European campaign in the 2011 GM Capital Challenge Cup against the Ukrainian side of Crimsoda KRASNOPEREKOPSK.
    The eternal rivals Dynamo MOSCOW and Iskra ODINTSOVO will meet in the other group, which includes also the third team from the Moscow region, MGTU MOSCOW, and the newcomer of the Superleague, Dynamo KRASNODAR.
    Lokomotiv NOVOSIBIRSK, Fakel NOVY URENGOY, Kuzbass KEMEROVO and Dorozhnik KRASNOYARSK will have it out in Novosibirsk and the local team seems to be the favorite in this quartet.

  • Gazprom-Ugra Surgut- Ural Ufa 3:2 (23:25; 25:22; 20:25; 15:7)
    Congrats to Surgut! I'm really glad that they won especially because our middle-blocker Łukasz Kadziewicz played very good match :) Łukasz scored 13 points: 7 in attack(88 % efficiency), 5 in block and 1 ace. Good job Łukasz! Keep it up! :)

  • Lokomotiv Belgorod broke the record of kill blocks during a 4-set match in the Russian championship this weekend. They made 24(!) blocks against Dinamo Krasnodar in the 3-1 away victory. The absolute record is held by Yaroslavich Yaroslavl - 30 blocks in the 5-set victory against NOVA Novokuybishevsk back in 2009.



    Source: http://www.volleyservice.ru/in…om_news&id=8575&Itemid=87

  • It seems that this would be totally uninteresting season in Russia. I watched Belgorod - Zenit few days ago and Zenit run over Belgorod. Such domination I didn't saw often. I knew they have magnificent attackers but I was impressed with their defense in field :obey: Zenit played perfect match, leaving Belgorod without chances even for set. Total domination :obey:


    So far Iskra is biggest disappointment, playing really bad. They have very good team with Abramov, Samica, Schops, Verbov, Kuleshov but they were close to loose match against Yaroslavich. Winning mentality can't be bought :lol:

  • #1
    Kuzbass Kemerovo
    - Gazprom-Ugra Surgut 3 : 2 (25:23 18:25 23:25 25:16 15:11) stats
    Lokomotiv Novosibirsk - Yaroslavich Yaroslavl 3 : 1 (25:18 20:25 25:13 25:16) stats
    Ural Ufa - Zenit Kazan 0 : 3 (18:25 18:25 15:25) stats
    Iskra Odintcovo - Dynamo Moscow 1 : 3 (20:25 23:25 25:23 15:25) stats
    Lokomotiv-Belogorie - Fakel 3 : 1 (25:22 23:25 25:16 25:15) stats
    Dynamo Yantar - Dynamo Krasnodar 1 : 3 (25:20 22:25 24:26 18:25) stats


    #2
    Lokomotiv Novosibirsk
    - Iskra Odintcovo 3 : 1 (25:14 22:25 25:19 25:17) stats
    Gazprom-Ugra Surgut - Ural Ufa 3 : 2 (23:25 25:22 20:25 25:22 15:7) stats
    Dynamo Krasnodar - Lokomotiv-Belogorie 1 : 3 (16:25 19:25 25:22 15:25) stats
    Yaroslavich Yaroslavl - Fakel 1 : 3 (13:25 25:16 20:25 20:25) stats
    Dynamo Yantar - Zenit Kazan 2 : 3 (20:25 25:23 19:25 26:24 14:16) stats
    Dynamo Moscow - Kuzbass Kemerovo 3 : 0 (25:22 25:23 25:14) stats


    #3
    Kuzbass Kemerovo - Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 2 : 3 (16:25 25:22 25:12 22:25 13:15) stats
    Ural Ufa - Dynamo Moscow 3 : 0 (25:23 25:23 25:23) stats
    Iskra Odintcovo - Yaroslavich Yaroslavl 3 : 2 (23:25 25:16 25:21 26:28 15:7) stats
    Lokomotiv-Belogorie - Zenit Kazan 0 : 3 (17:25 21:25 21:25) stats
    Dynamo Yantar - Gazprom-Ugra Surgut 2 : 3 (25:22 28:30 25:21 16:25 5:15) stats
    Fakel - Dynamo Krasnodar 3 : 1 (22:25 25:15 25:23 25:21) stats


    1. Zenit-Kazan Kazan 8
    2. Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 8
    3. Dynamo Moscow 6
    4. Fakel Novy Urengoy 6
    5. Lokomotiv-Belogorie Belgorod 6
    6. Gazprom-Ugra Surgut 5
    7. Ural Ufa 4
    8. Dynamo Krasnodar 3
    9. Kuzbass Kemerovo 3
    10. Iskra Odintcovo 2
    11. Dynamo Yantar Kaliningrad 2
    12. Yaroslavich Yaroslavl 1

  • So far Iskra is biggest disappointment, playing really bad.

    A lot of objective reasons for that. New coach with new trainings and vision for the game, Samica still in bad form, Abramov is yet to make his debut in the league, Shops played only against Dinamo...but Lloy Ball & co. look unbeatable, indeed.

  • A lot of objective reasons for that. New coach with new trainings and vision for the game, Samica still in bad form, Abramov is yet to make his debut in the league, Shops played only against Dinamo...but Lloy Ball & co. look unbeatable, indeed.


    That's true but players aren't unexperienced, Samica and Abramov knows Santilli very well ;) they have decent OH - Kalinin, Spridonov etc. maybe they will be better but for now they look awful.

  • Cup of Russia 2010


    Pool A (Nizhnevartovsk)
    9.11
    Yaroslavich Yaroslavl – Ural Ufa – 1:3 (21:25, 25:15, 14:25, 16:25)
    Y: Simeonov 11, Titich 11…
    U: Stanley 24 (block 5, ace 3), Afinogenov 13, Kromm 13…


    Zenit Kazan – Ugra-Samotlor Nizhnevartovsk – 3:0 (25:11, 30:28, 25:22)
    Cheremisin 12, Panteleymonenko 11 – Sаvin 12


    10.11
    17.00. Zenit - Yaroslavich
    19.00. Ugra-Samotlor -Ural
    11.11
    17.00. Ural - Zenit
    19.00. Yaroslavich - Ugra-Samotlor


    ***


    Pool B (Surgut)
    9.11
    Lokomotiv-Belogorie Belgorod – NOVA Novokuibyshevsk – 3:0 (25:19, 25:15, 25:20)
    Muserskiy 13, Sychev 11 – В.Еzhоv 11


    Gazprom-Ugra Surgut – Lokomotiv-Izumrud Ekaterinburg – 3:1 (25:19, 22:25, 25:19, 25:21)
    Nosenko 26, Rodichev 15 – Еgоrоv 17, Gеrаsimоv 15


    10.11
    17.00. NOVA – Lokomotiv-Izumrud
    19.00. Lokomotiv-Belogorie – Gazprom-Ugra
    11.11
    17.00. Lokomotiv-Izumrud – Lokomotiv-Belogorie
    19.00. Gazprom-Ugra – NOVA


    ***


    Pool C (Moscow, MGTU)
    9.11
    Dynamo Moscow – MGTU Moscow – 3:2 (23:25, 20:25, 28:26, 26:24, 15:9)
    D: Iakovlev 22, Veres 20, Kruglov 14…


    Iskra Odintcovo – Dynamo Krasnodar – 3:1 (25:19, 22:25, 25:20, 25:21)


    10.11
    16.00. МGTU – Dynamo Кr
    18.00. Dynamo М – Iskra
    11.11
    16.00. Dynamo Кr – Dynamo М
    18.00. Iskra – МGTU


    ***


    Pool D (Novosibirsk)
    9.11
    Lokomotiv Novosibirsk – Dorozhnik Krasnoyarsk – 3:0 (25:21, 25:15, 25:14)
    L: Pavlov 13, Sammelvuo 10…


    Fakel Novy Urengoy – Kuzbass Kemerovo – 3:1 (25:22, 22:25, 25:15, 25:21)
    F: Bakun 23 (aces 3), Sivozhelez 17, Kritsky 13, Rossamakhin 12…
    К: Moroz 25 (aces 3), Andrae 11…


    10.11
    18.00. Lokomotiv – Fakel
    20.00. Dorozhnik – Kuzbass
    11.11
    18.00. Kuzbass – Lokomotiv
    20.00. Fakel – Dorozhnik

  • Pool A (Nizhnevartovsk)
    10.11
    Zenit – Yaroslavich – 3:0 (25:17, 25:18, 25:22)
    Mikhaylov 16 – Titich12


    Ugra-Samotlor – Ural – 0:3 (21:25, 20:25, 23:25)
    Sаvin 17, Petrov 11 – Kromm 15, Samoylenko 13


    Ranking: Zenit, Ural – 6 (2-0), Yaroslavich, Ugra-Samotlor – 0 (0-2).


    11.11
    17.00. Ural – Zenit
    19.00. Yaroslavich - Ugra-Samotlor


    ***


    Pool B (Surgut)
    10.11
    NOVA – Lokomotiv-Izumrud – 0:3 (13:25, 19:25, 21:25)
    L: Маkhоrtоv 14, Gerasimov 11…


    Lokomotiv-Belogorie – Gazprom-Ugra – 3:2 (26:24, 18:25, 22:25, 25:19, 15:10)
    Khtey 17, Kosarev 15, Muserskiy 15 – Nosenko 27, Rodichev 18


    Ranking: Lokomotiv-Belogorie – 5 (2-0), Gazprom-Ugra – 4 (2-1), Lokomotiv-Izumrud – 3 (1-1), NOVA – 0 (0-2).


    11.11
    17.00. Lokomotiv-Izumrud – Lokomotiv-Belogorie
    19.00. Gazprom-Ugra – NOVA


    ***


    Pool C (Moscow, MGTU)
    10.11
    МGTU – Dynamo Kr – 0:3 (18:25, 22:25, 20:25)


    Dynamo М – Iskra – 3:1 (22:25, 25:21, 25:17, 25:22)
    D: Iakovlev 18, Kazakov 16, Korneev 11…


    Ranking: Dynamo М – 5 (2-0), Dynamo KR, Iskra – 3 (1-1), MGTU – 1 (0-2).


    11.11
    16.00. Dynamo Kr – Dynamo М
    18.00. Iskra – MGTU


    ***


    Pool D (Novosibirsk)
    10.11
    Lokomotiv Ns – Fakel – 3:0 (28:26, 25:23, 25:17)
    Sammelvuo 19, Pavlov 16 – Bakun 16, Kritsky 16


    Dorozhnik – Kuzbass – 0:3 (23:25, 19:25, 15:25)
    Ankudovicz 13, Shumilin 12 – Baranov 16, Poroshin 15


    Ranking: Lokomotiv Ns – 6 (2-0), Kuzbass, Fakel – 3 (1-1), Dorozhnik – 0 (0-2).


    11.11
    18.00. Kuzbass – Lokomotiv Ns
    20.00. Fakel – Dorozhnik

  • Pool A (Nizhnevartovsk)
    Zenit – Ural – 3:0 (29:27, 27:25, 25:13)
    Ugra-Samotlor – Yaroslavich – 3:2 (20:25, 15:25, 25:15, 25:21, 20:18 )
    Ranking: Zenit – 9 (3-0), Ural – 6 (2-1), Ugra-Samotlor – 2 (1-2), Yaroslavich – 1 (0-3).


    Pool B (Surgut)
    Lokomotiv-Belogorie – Lokomotiv-Izumrud – 3:1 (25:21, 25:23, 20:25, 25:16)
    Gazprom-Ugra – NOVA – 3:1 (25:22, 25:18, 17:25, 25:23)
    Ranking: Lokomotiv-Belogorie – 8 (3-0), Gazprom-Ugra – 7 (2-1), Lokomotiv-Izumrud – 3 (1-2), NOVA – 0 (0-3).


    Pool C (Moscow, MGTU)
    Dynamo М – Dynamo Kr – 3:1 (21:25, 26:24, 25:22, 25:21)
    MGTU – Iskra – 3:2 (25:22, 25:19, 20:25, 19:25, 15:10)
    Ranking: Dynamo М – 8 (3-0), Iskra – 4 (1-2), Dynamo Kr – 3 (1-2),


    Pool D (Novosibirsk)
    Lokomotiv Ns – Kuzbass – 3:1 (25:17, 22:25, 25:14, 25:21)
    Fakel – Dorozhnik – 3:0 (25:21, 25:19, 26:24)
    Ranking: Lokomotiv Ns – 9 (3-0), Fakel – 6 (2-1), Kuzbass – 3 (1-2), Dorozhnik – 0 (0-3).


    Zenit, Lokomotiv-Belogorie, Dynamo and Lokomotiv Novosibirsk qualified to the Final Four of Russian Cup.

  • I'm in awe of Russian league this season :obey: simply everyone can beat everyone, every match have own intrigues and atm Superleague looks much stronger than Italian. This may sound like a joke but level of play in Russia is getting better and better every season, teams investing lot of money in players and halls are always full (I'm talking about matches that I saw). Zenit lost 3 matches so far, Surgut and Yaroslavich overcame Alekno squad 3:2, but Zenit's last loss against Novosibirsk shows that we will have really interesting season. Also Iskra is playing better and better, currently they are on 2nd position, with 5-6 wins in row. Novosibirsk is currently first and Zenit 3rd. Novosibirsk lost lot of players before season (Priddy, Lee, Korneev etc.) so their results are very surprising.


    This week Russian Cup Final Four is going to be held in Novosibirsk with replay of the last round match Zenit - Novosibirsk :whistle: other semifinalist are Dynamo Moscow and Lokomotiv Belgorod :dance6:

  • I'm in awe of Russian league this season :obey: simply everyone can beat everyone, every match have own intrigues and atm Superleague looks much stronger than Italian. This may sound like a joke but level of play in Russia is getting better and better every season, teams investing lot of money in players and halls are always full (I'm talking about matches that I saw). Zenit lost 3 matches so far, Surgut and Yaroslavich overcame Alekno squad 3:2, but Zenit's last loss against Novosibirsk shows that we will have really interesting season. Also Iskra is playing better and better, currently they are on 2nd position, with 5-6 wins in row. Novosibirsk is currently first and Zenit 3rd. Novosibirsk lost lot of players before season (Priddy, Lee, Korneev etc.) so their results are very surprising.


    This week Russian Cup Final Four is going to be held in Novosibirsk with replay of the last round match Zenit - Novosibirsk :whistle: other semifinalist are Dynamo Moscow and Lokomotiv Belgorod :dance6:

    I agree with that, the Russian league is becoming unpredictable, but there's something else that I noticed. The favourites sometimes have the tendency to show some "aristocracy" when they face supposedly weaker teams. I think Zenit and Belgorod show other, more serious attitude when they play in the Champions league, for example. The same "aristocracy", IMO, was the reason why Dinamo Moscow was eliminated from the World Club Championship, it seemed like they were expecting Bolivar to stop playing just because they were against the big Dinamo. Also, look at the squad of Zenit in their last game against Novosibirsk. Ball never came on, Mikhaylov played only for a while even when Zenit was losing. So, I think in the play-offs the situation will change :)

  • I agree with that, the Russian league is becoming unpredictable, but there's something else that I noticed. The favourites sometimes have the tendency to show some "aristocracy" when they face supposedly weaker teams. I think Zenit and Belgorod show other, more serious attitude when they play in the Champions league, for example. The same "aristocracy", IMO, was the reason why Dinamo Moscow was eliminated from the World Club Championship, it seemed like they were expecting Bolivar to stop playing just because they were against the big Dinamo. Also, look at the squad of Zenit in their last game against Novosibirsk. Ball never came on, Mikhaylov played only for a while even when Zenit was losing. So, I think in the play-offs the situation will change :)


    Probably Ball was resting for Cup Final Four, as he played all matches for Zenit this season and their schedule is really cluttered. But I expect them on recognizable level already in Novosibirsk. Also they underestimated Novosibirsk but I'm still by my opinion that Zenit is level about everyone in Russia :whistle:


    I don't think Dynamo was arrogant against Bolivar, simply they played best as they can atm as they don't have good squad this year and what is more sad Dynamo don't have coach. Cherednik is a jackass who don't have clue about volley, just look his decisions during the match :rolll: . But let's get back on players :rolll: Dynamo don't have good opposite as Yakovlev is a fat pig who can't jump while Kruglov is just solid player for Russian league and I think they regret for Poltavsky who invented volley for both Yakovlev and Kruglov. So they don't have opposite who can make difference. Veres is a joke player IMO, Dante unrecognizible and Korneev also solid backup player, so they have really big problems with reception and attack. Kazakov is way below his games in Novosibirsk, Shcherbinin is too ''green''. Bragin was very poor also. Grankin out of form atm so currently Dynamo is very vulnerable. Without good coach their situation looks even worse. ;)


    Maybe there is something in story about ''aristocracy'' but level of volley is rising as teams are investing in players. IMO Surgut is doing great job with young team and they should be much higher than their postion suggests. Belgorod have problems with setters as Sintini was disappointing, Bagrey isn't class setter. Now Sintini left, Kolodinsky came but I don't think he will be first setter. Shipulin trust to Bagrey but we will see things in future :whistle: