Zenit-Kazan vs. Belogorie | HIGHLIGHTS | 22 Round | SuperLeague 2025-2026

Since 2023, matches between the two most decorated clubs in the country have been held under the banner of "Classics of Russian Volleyball." The teams traditionally took to the court in special uniforms, and this time, there was a lot of classical music in the foyer and the arena itself.

In the Lions' debut, the unstoppable diagonal player Mohamed Al Hachdadi was on the court, but as soon as he made his first mistake, the Kazan team immediately took the lead. Mikhail Labinsky scored after Dmitry Volkov's tenacious defense, and Alexey Kononov made an ace – 13:10. The guests turned the tide of the game with a series of four blocks. Pavel Tetyukhin was particularly successful, as he single-handedly shut down Maxim Mikhailov twice – 16:15. The Kazan team had excellent reception (89%), but the Belgorod team still managed to read their opponent's moves. However, the decisive factor was the Zenit block, which shut down Al Hachdadi in the final minutes – 25:23.

The second set started badly for both Belogorye and Tetyukhin, the captain of the team: first, he attacked into the out, and then he did not share the ball in the reception with Yaroslav Podlesnykh – 1:4. In the middle of the game, the coach of the "lions" Sergey Baranov spent two time-outs on a series of Volkov's serves, on which his team was stuck (9:14). The Belgorodians themselves had problems with the serve: not a single ace in two sets and 13 (6+7) mistakes. When they managed to make good serves, the Kazan players received them well, which gave them an advantage in the attack. Volkov was the leader of Zenit's attacks. He also ended the set with an ace, 25:17.

Mikhailov was once again blocked by Tetyukhin (8:8), and Konstantin Abaev made several inaccurate passes, leading to a double substitution by Zenit's head coach and birthday boy, Alexey Verbov, who brought on Mikhail Vyshnikov and Drazen Luburić at 10:12. However, this substitution did not have the desired effect, and at 14:17, a reverse substitution occurred, with Luburić also falling victim to Tetyukhin's block. While Zenit lost five points in the attack, Belgorod only lost one. They minimized their mistakes, which immediately affected the result. Tetyukhin (4/6) played a brilliant set, and Georgy Zabolotnikov was very effective, securing the guests' victory with a score of 25:21.

In the fourth set, Ljuburić came on with Abaev. Kononov and Roman Romanovsky's blocks gave Kazan a lead (8:5), which lasted until the middle of the set. Romanovsky's and Ljuburić's mistakes in the attack allowed Belogorye to recover, leading to a 15:15 score. At 14:15, Belogorye had to make a forced substitution due to Podlesnykh's ankle injury, and Andrey Marchenko came in his place. Zenita's coaches also made a substitution in response to Romanovsky's mistake, replacing him with Artem Volvich.

In the end, Ivan Yakovlev hit two consecutive aces against Labinsky, and Belogory took the lead with 21:19. This could have been the decisive moment in the set, but the Kazan team fought back after Volkov's attack. Labinsky's powerful serve gave them a set point, leading to a 24:23 score. Ultimately, Kononov's block against Al Hachdadi's attack sealed the victory for Zenit, resulting in a 26:24 score.

VFV - volley.ru