In the all-Russian battle for the #CEVCupM gold, Dinamo MOSCOW survived in the first final match, after a five-sets thriller vs Zenit SAINT PETERSBURG. The Volleyball fans in sports hall Dynamo Volleyball Arena MOSCOW witnessed an exciting battle on the court, with many twists and turns. However, the players around head coach Konstantin Brianskii managed to claim the victory and make an important step ahead towards the Gold medals. The key to the success for the Moscow team in Wednesday’s match was the better performance on attack. Zenit, on the other hand, exceled on the block, finishing with 17 successful actions in this component. The decisive re-match between both teams will take place on March 25.

A cat-and-mouse game marked the first minutes of the match with both teams trying to establish their rhythm of play. Neither Dinamo, nor Zenit were giving in, showing high levels of motivation, delivering some long rallies. Both sides were a little bit more stressed on the serve recording some unforced errors. With the set unfolding, the host team started controlling the game with good performance on the block allowing them to take a small point advantage. With the result 18-13 for Dinamo, the head coach of Zenit Saint Petersburg Tuomas Sammelvuo tried to turn things around, asking for a time out. It worked as Zenit got closer in the result (20-18) and even equalised at 21-21 thanks to strong service performance by Antoine Brizard. Sam Deroo with a strong attack in 4, helped Dinamo to take the lead again, but it wasn’t for long. Pankov’s error on the serve and then an error by Tsvetan Sokolov in attack, helped Zenit to stay better on the field and they opened in their favour.
Zenit started slightly better in the second set but Dinamo put up some fight in the moments after. With Pankov on the serve, making it difficult for Zenit’s reception, the host team managed to take the lead. The players from Saint Petersburg reacted (9-9) but Dinamo maintained the level, remaining more concentrated in the decisive moment. Even though Zenit tried to tie again the score, the players coached by Konstantin Brianskii showed nerves of steel and grabbed the set.
Both teams were following each others in the result in the third set (11-11) but Zenit were better on taking their chances on the block (7 in the set). Brianskii took a timeout at 21-17 for Zenit, and Sokolov immediately scored. Podlesnykh of Dinamo performed well on the serve but it wasn’t enough and Zenit scored again. Ivan Iakovlev and Egor Kliuka were shining in these moments for Zenit (good on block and attack), and supported by some powerful action by Brizard, the guest team took the set.
Dinamo were pushing hard on the attack in the beginning of the next set and took the lead at 11-8 with seven successful actions in this component. However, Zenit found their way back, and started breathing Dinamo’s necks. They even equalised at 22-22. Sokolov for the Moscow team was giving it all on the court in these moments, and helped his team for tying the set-score.
Dinamo dominated in the tiebreak. Anton Semyshev on the serving made it quite difficult for Zenit in reception. Until the end of the match, Dinamo remained the better team and thanks to some powerful spikes in the middle, congratulated themselves with the victory.