Russia: Kemerovo win. Fakel and Belgorod fall on their home court

In addition to the match between Novosibirsk and Kazan, also valid for the assignment of the Super Cup, another five matches of Round 2 of the Russian Super League was played between yesterday and today, which will end tomorrow with the postponement between Ural Ufa and Dinamo Moscow. Kuzbass Kemerovo smiles, despite struggled more than expected to overcome 3-1 Yugra Samotlor Nizhnevartovsk.
Bad day, however, both for Fakel Novy Urengoy who, without Bogdan (the best in previous matches) suffered a sensational 0-3 against the modest Dinamo LO, and for Belogorie Belgorod who lost at home, albeit at tie-break, even against the newcomers Neftyanik Orenburg. The new outside-hitter Dmitry Leontiev made his debut in the Chipulin team, arriving on the eve of the match (he played at Dinamo LO last season).
Zenit St. Petersburg’s first victory (3-0 away over ASK Nizhniy Novgorod with 7 winning blocks by Iakovlev and 4 ace by Poletaev) and the 0-3 between Gazprom Surgut (again penalized by the absences of 4 starting players) and Yenisey Krasnoyarsk (devoid of opposites) close the picture.

📌| Results & Program Round 2

🗓| October 3

• Gazprom Surgut — Yenisey Krasnoyarsk 0:3 (13:25, 21:25, 23:25)
Top Scorers: Shakhbanmirzaev 12, Slobodyaniuk 9, Yakutin 6; Iereshchenko 16, Kritskiy 10, Aksyutin 7.

• ASK Nizhniy Novgorod – Zenit St Petersburg 0:3 (11:25, 25:27, 23:25)
Top Scorers: Fettsov 15, Mozzhukhin 8, Andreev 7, Melnikov 7; Poletaev 20, Iakovlev 16, Ursov 9, Camejo 8.

• Kuzbass Kemerovo – Yugra Samotlor Nizhnevartovsk 3:1 (20:25, 25:15, 25:22, 25:16)
Top Scorers: Zaytsev 18, Krsmanovic 15, Sivozhelez 12, Markin 8; Papazov 16, Bogachev 15, Tsepkov 9, Pozdniakov 8.

• Lokomotiv Novosibirsk – Zenit Kazan 2:3 (18:25, 25:22, 23:25, 25:23, 9:15) (match valid also for 2020 Russian Super Cup)

• Belogorie Belgorod — Neftyanik Orenburg 2:3 (25:20, 20:25, 25:14, 22:25, 14:16)
Top Scorers: Tetyukhin 20, Chervyakov 13, Sidenko 12, Kuznetsov 8, Spodobets 8; Purin 22, Shemyatihin 15, Shchadilov 9, Panov 9.

• Fakel Novy Urengoy – Dinamo L0 0:3 (22:25, 19:25, 22:25)
Top Scorers: Zhigalov 14, Volkov 11, Volodin 6, Stulenkov 5; Biryukov 16, Alekseev 15, Biarda 9, Divis 8, Abrosimov 6.

🗓| October 5
• Ural Ufa – Dinamo Moscow 0-3 (17:25, 19:25, 17:25)

📄| Standings
Kuzbass Kemerovo 6
Zenit Kazan 4
Dinamo LO 4
Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 4
Ural Ufa 3
Dinamo Moscow 3
Zenit St Petersburg 3
Yugra Samotlor Nizhnevartovsk 3
Yenisey Krasnoyarsk 3
ASK Nizhniy Novgorod 2
Neftyanik Orenburg 2
Belogorie Belgorod 1
Fakel Novy Urengoy 1
Gazprom Surgut 0