Posts by inc0gnito

Oh please Gamova was once-a-generation kind of player and to compare her with the likes of Diouf is such a disservice. The closest we have today of her calibre is arguably Boskovic.

Fakel is now resting all their main players for Game 3. Good decision by the coach to let the bench play and let the starters rest.

We can discuss all we want what happened to Kazan in their match against Lube but stats are stats. The fact of the matter is Butko overplayed Ngapeth and underused Mikhaylov. That in itself i think is the more pressing question. And it's not like Kazan was trashed by Lube. Blackouts, it happens even to the best teams circa Russia vs Brazil 2004 SF (not a good comparison, but you get the point).

So no one is gonna talk about the crazy match between Fakel and Skra? I think this was equally as epic as the Lube x Kazan match and holds the record of the longest ever match in Club WCH history. Does anyone have a link to the replay of this match?

Fakel should rest their starters, playing back-to-back grueling 5-set matches is no walk in the park and conserve their energy in SF. Volkov especially his celebrations take half of his energy

kyle7in1 wrote:

Fakel only ranked 6 in Russia league last season. But this season they look very competitive.

With Volkov, Kliuka and Udrys, Fakel has a scary attacking line. If they can reduce unforced errors, they will challenge Kazan in Russia league. Too bad they did not qualify for CL this season. Hope to see them in CL next year.

Agree. The only "hole"on their team is their 2nd MB, all positons are on decent level. Having them as wildcard was not solely based on money after all as we all assumed

And Fakel takes it and is in Semi-Finals! Wow I should watch the replay of this match hopefully they have it on YT or somethng.

On one hand if Fakel lose today, Zenit still has a chance to qualify right? But if Fakel wins then it's bye for Mikhaylov and co.

Oh my god it's tied now 15-15 on the 5th

I don't think it 's a chemistry issue per se, but particularly on this match, I get the impression Butko was not setting Mikhaylov as usual (and especially in Set 5) and this did not help Maxim's confidence and was missing some spikes in the crucial moments most especially at match point 14-13. Ngapeth had 43 attempts vs Mikhaykov's 29 and that is a significant number considering that as an opposite you should get most balls and this was a 5-set match. Mikhaylov had 65% efficiency , I still believe he is the "go to guy" of this team but Butko hd other plans I guess

I'm confused who was Verbov arguing at the net in the last point? Does Zenit officially say goodbye now?

This 5th set is going down the wire. Zenit had chances to endit 15-13 but Mikhaylov missed his spike.

Was not able to watch the start of the match, but did Samoylenko play?

Kazan's serve mistakes in the 5th set will surely haunt them if Fakel wins cost them the match.

Important match between Kazan and Lube tomorrow. If Lube wins, they have big chances to advance.. if Kazan lose against Lube, they are in a bad spot and will need to depend on the result of the other matches.

And we are in for a tiebreak! Fakel wins Set 4. As a sidenote, Iakovlev, MB is a good prospect for Russian NT.

I just noticed Volkov seems much less expressive in club than in NT while he shows off as much as he can

Fakel can compete in the wings, but Zenit has just more quality in the middle.

Fakel OPP, Udrys looks impressive, I wonder why i never paid attention to him before. Fakel leading 2nd set 17-15.

kyle7in1 wrote:

It's a bit disappointing for Russian NT this year. They won VNL but can not squeeze into top 4 in WCH. They will aim at the golden medal in 2022. Leon could play for Polish NT since 2019. Poland is also very competitive.

One word: "Peak". If a team performed at the highest level, surely they can't maintain that form/level in just a couple of months into the future. But everyone seems to agree that Russia was not playing at their best, Mikhaylov in particular received some criticism due to his form during WCH (or lack thereof). Also, WCH 2022 will be Mikhaylov's last chance to win the only medal he doesn't have in possession, same for Muserskiy and other legionaries like Butko, etc.

Kaliningrad's libero, Galkina is good. Speaking of liberos, does anyone know if Malova will play this season?

Sisko95 wrote:

Moscow win 20-18 in the TB. Minsk defended really well, but in the end Goncharova had too much quality.

Was not able to watch the game, but was curious if Goncharova played the entire game or as a substitute? Guess her injury was a minor one aftet all good news for Russian NT.

JoanaBG wrote:

There's no news of her moving to another club and she's listed on the (updated) roster on Dinamo's official website, so...

Good to know. Thanks!