Zenit-Kazan vs. Lokomotiv | HIGHLIGHTS | SemiFinals (1st Game) | SuperLeague 2025-2026

Zenit's setter Konstantin Abaev and middle blocker Dmitry Volkov received individual awards before the match for being included in the Superleague coaches' team of the regular season.

From the very first plays, the guests unleashed a powerful serve on the Kazan team, and Alexey Verbov had to take a timeout at 1:5. After the timeout, the Zenit players calmed down, stabilized their reception, and caught up with their opponents at 8:8, with Roman Romanovsky making an ace. After Mikhail Labinsky's serve, Zenit took the lead for the first time, 14:13. Gradually, the Kazan team increased their advantage to +3, but it was lost after two unsuccessful attacks by Maxim Mikhailov. Zenit's диагональный immediately recovered (21:20), and then Abaev blocked Fyodor Voronkov. Two consecutive aces by Labinsky completed the set, 25:21. In the end, Sam Dero entered the court for Lokomotiv, and the Kazan fans greeted him with loud applause.

Thanks to Dmitry Lyzik's ace and Voronkov's successful attacks, Lokomotiv regained the lead with a +4 difference (8:4) at the start of the second set. By this point, the Kazan team had been forced to replace their libero, as Ilya Fedorov had suffered an injury during a самоотверженной defensive play. After a timeout, Labinsky actively scored breakpoints, including an ace and two blocks against Omar Kurbanov and Ilya Kazachenkov (12:12). At this point, Radjab Shakhbanmirzaev replaced Kazachenkov. The fate of the game was decided in Voronkov's serve. He found Mikhailov in the reception, and the Novosibirsk players received a free ball, which was converted by Kurbanov. In the next two plays, Volkov and Romanovsky made mistakes in the attack, resulting in a score of 16:20. In this set, the Kazan team faced a significant disadvantage in converting attacks, with a conversion rate of 32% to 62%.

In the third set, there was no Lokomotiv's starting roar, and a fierce battle immediately broke out on the court. In the middle of the set, the hosts had to make a forced substitution due to an injury to Kurbanov, and Dero took his place. For most of the set, the Kazan team led in the score, including in the final 22-20. However, they lost five consecutive balls. Labinsky hit an out and was blocked by Simeon Nikolov, while Lyzik blocked Volkov's attack from the back line, and Mikhailov missed several shots. In total, the Kazan team made 11 mistakes during the game, making it easier for their opponents.

The Kazan team took the lead in the middle of the fourth set after several unsuccessful actions by Lokomotiv's setter Nikolov. First, he attacked into the block, then missed a ball, and the Kazan team scored a passing ball - 13:10. The Novosibirsk team was looking for Mikhailov in the reception. Maxim helped the receivers well until a certain point, but he made a mistake after Radjab's serve - 14:14. But he quickly returned the favor: he hit a killer serve to Deru, and then picked up the ball after a Radjab attack and scored it himself – 17:14. Two great serves from Ilyas Kurkaev allowed Lokomotiv to close the gap to a minimum, but Mikhailov took the team off the receiving end (20:18), and then Volkov hit an important ace – 23:20. Mikhailov sent the teams to a tiebreak with another accurate attack.

Zenit started the tie-break well, catching Rajab with a block – 4:1. But they failed to build on this success. The guests served aggressively and Kurkaev tied the score with an ace (6:6). Volkov hit the net cord, after which Lokomotiv took the lead (9:8), and Voronkov's ace increased the guests' advantage to 13:11. Romanovsky won back one match point, but Kurbanov's attack still gave the Novosibirsk team the victory – 15:13.

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