MGTU vs. Zenit-Kazan | HIGHLIGHTS | 28 Round | SuperLeague 2025-2026

For the second match in a row, MGTU helped the Superleague leaders test their depth of squad. And, it must be said, they did it very diligently. In Moscow, the Kazan team started the game with Drazen Luburic in the diagonal and Andrei Surmachevsky, who replaced Dmitry Volkov. Both players played the match at a high level. And it was largely thanks to them that the visitors won in four sets.

The guests tried to gain an advantage by serving. They took a lot of risks, but they were only able to make a significant impact in the fourth set, where Zenit managed to record five aces. In the first three sets, the frequent mistakes made by the opponents allowed the MSTU volleyball players to keep the game close. By the end of the first set, the guests were only able to create a three-point lead – 19:16. However, Shchadilov's ace and Surmachevsky's mistake on a pip allowed the Muscovites to tie the score – 19:19. In the next set, Surmachevsky made another mistake, and the Bauman team took the lead – 21:20. Surmachevsky's own ace gave his team the advantage and earned a set point – 24:23. In the end, the balance of luck ultimately favored the guests, with a score of 28:26.

At the beginning of the second set, the MGTU coaching staff put Ivan Korotaev on the bench (7:7), and released Andrey Kotov onto the court. Ivan looked good on the reception, giving 44% of positive drives with one mistake. But in the attack, he clearly stalled, distinguishing himself by the time of the substitution only twice in 9 attacks with 4 mistakes. At this point, the guests began to move forward. With a score of 16:13 in their favor, Zenit's players earned three points in a row on Drazen Luburić's serve, taking the lead to 19:13. Mikhail Vyshnikov replaced Konstantin Abaev, and the six-point lead remained until the end of the set (23:17), increasing due to MGTU's mistakes.

In the third set, Maxim Shkredov, the MGTU diagonal player, played well. His ten points in this set allowed MGTU to catch up with the visitors and take the lead, 19:16. Konstantin Sidenko, who was leading the game for Zenit, had to use both of his breaks. On Artem Volvich's serve, Roman Romanovsky successfully completed the first-tempo attack, and then the visitors caught Shkredov's block and tied the score at 21:21. MGTU reached the setboles first (24:23), and the Kazan team used video replays to bring the teams back into the game on the balas, where the hosts showed their character at 27:25.

In the fourth set, Zenit finally got their serve going, and after Mikhail Labinsky's fourth ace of the set, the visitors took the lead at 14:12. MGTU responded with a precise attack from Shkredov and an ace of his own, but then followed a series of mistakes on the hosts' serve.

After the fifth ace of the set by Surmachevsky, Zenit's advantage became noticeable at 20:16. The MSTU volleyball players managed to win back two break balls, and after the Kazan team's time-outs, they closed Volvich's attack – 23:25. However, on the second attempt, the experienced central player put an end to the match – 25:23 and 3:1.

VFV - volley.ru