Zenit vs. Yaroslavich | HIGHLIGHTS | 22 Round | SuperLeague 2025-2026

The Yaroslavl team came to St. Petersburg in 15th place in the standings, having won in 4 matches. While Zenit has won all its matches in 2026 (against MGTU, Dynamo-LO, Nova, Dynamo, Gorky, and Yenisey), the opponent has only won once in the 20th round against Orenburg. In the first round match, Zenit won 3-0.

The hosts took the lead at the start of the match, 3:0 on Maxim Kosmin's serve. After that, the game was evenly matched for a while, with both teams maintaining their momentum. However, after a mistake by Pavel Shustrov in the attack, Valery Pyaskovsky took advantage of the break (19:16), but this pause did not significantly impact the overall outcome, as Zenit maintained their lead at 25:21. At the end of the set, the advantage of the blue-and-white-blue team was undeniable in the attack (59% against 43% for the guests), but the guests were more confident in the reception (57% against 33% for Zenit). Vladislav Babkevich became the best scorer of the first set, scoring 9 points with a 64% conversion rate. The guests' setter used more central players, who performed well: Kulikov achieved 80% (4 out of 5), and Kassel achieved 67% (2 out of 3).

In the second set, Vitaly Dikarev and captain Zhenya Grebennikov appeared on the host's court, while Nikola Melyanac, who had been substituted at the end of the first set, continued to play for the guests. On the serve of the outside hitter, the guests took the lead for the first time in the match (11:10), but Yaroslavl's players were unable to capitalize on this success. The hosts regained the initiative and won the set 25:19, with Maxim Bocharov delivering a spectacular ace to seal the victory. In this game segment, the guests' attack numbers decreased from 43% to 29%. In contrast, the hosts increased their already high percentage from the first game (59%) to 67%.

In the third set, the guests showed their best performance, achieving a 58% attack rate, but it was not enough. Vladislav Babkevich's 2 consecutive aces turned the score into 6:5. After that, the hosts prevented the guests from gaining an advantage, securing a clean victory. The final score was 25:22, and Zenit won the match 3:0. Vladislav Babkevich scored 23 points for Zenit. After the 22nd round, the blue-and-white team moved up to second place in the standings, surpassing Lokomotiv Novosibirsk.

VFV - volley.ru