Zenit Kazan celebrates the New Year with a victory. Part 3

Surgut matches have been tough for the club over past years as Zenit was losing points in four matches against Yugra.

Alexey Cheremisin’s three mistakes allowed his former club to gain advantage in the start of the game – 9:5. However, after the first technical break Kazan club strengthened the serves and gained two-three points on each positioning – 15:25.

In the second set, home team’s play did not improve as returns remained catastrophic. Sivozhelez made three aces, Mikhaylov and Anderson scored one point each on the serves – 13:20. However, Yugra came back due to Teodor Todorov’s efforts to bridge the gap – 20:23. This forced Alekno to take the first time out, after which Anderson and Yakovlev concluded the set with precise shots – 20:25.

Zenit played more consistently than Yugra in the third set with Apalikov and Mikhaylov making aces again – 7:11. Aleksiev managed to block Mikhaylov and Anderson and the home team equaled the score in the end of the match – 22:22. Sivozhelez’s pipe earned a match ball, whilst Apalikov finalized the score – 24:26.

Milhaylov became the best scorer of the match with 17 points, whilst Yugra’s Aleksiev and Rodichev scored 11 points each. Kazan club also had a huge advantage in aces – 8:0.