Russia: Novosibirsk destroys Belgorod. But what a tie break between Fakel and Kemerovo!

Due to the upcoming European commtments for Novosibirsk and Kemerovo, another 2 advances valid for Round 21 of the Russian championship were played today.
In the first match, coach Konstantinov’s team overwhelmed Belogorie Belgorod, repeating the success of two days ago in the recovery match of the first leg match. Emotions and twists until the last ball instead in the atalenating challenge between Fakel Novy Urengoy and Kuzbass Kemerovo: both sides forced a lot from the service line, with mixed results, but also producing important breaks in a match that eventually was decided on the fifth set. Here the guests sprinted forward 2: 9 with 6 break points thanks to Kobzar’s excellent turn from the service line (1 ace, 1 error in attack by Volkov and 4 counterattacks by Zaytsev), but Fakel recovered 3 break points on the turn from the service line by Volkov (6:9), one on that of Gutsalyuk (8:10), and one on that of Bogdan (11:12), also wasting 2 counterattacks, and in extremis they also canceled 2 match points, claiming also an incredible advantage with Zhigalov’s 2 consecutive aces (15:14). However, Kemerovo was good at canceling 4 match balls, also thanks to the decisive errors in attack by Bodgan and Zhigalov: 18:20 is the final result.

| Results & Program Round 21
| February 4
• Zenit Kazan – Yenisey Krasnoyarsk 3:1 (22:25, 25:17, 25:12, 28:26)

| February 5
• Lokomotiv Novosibirsk – Belogorie Belgorod 3:0 (25:18, 25:16, 25:16) Top Scorers: Luburic 13, Rodichev 8, Savin 8, Lyzik 6, Kurkaev 5; Nelli 6, Samoylenko 6, Sidenko 5, Ilinykh 5, Borovnjak 4.

• Fakel Novy Urengoy – Kuzbass Kemerovo 2:3 (25:17, 23:25, 17:25, 25:18, 18:20)
Top Scorers: Bogdan 22, Zhigalov 21, Volkov 20, Gutsalyuk 12; Zaytsev 17, Sivozhelez 16, Kobzar 10, Krsmanovic 8, Karpukhov 8, Shcherbakov 7, Markin 5.

| February 6
• Dinamo LO – Ural Ufa
• Gazprom Surgut – Yugra Samotlor Nizhnevartovsk
• Zenit St. Petersburg – Dinamo Moscow
• ASK Nizhniy Novgorod – Neftyanik Orenburg

| Standings (Updated on February 5)
Kuzbass Kemerovo 45
Dinamo Moscow 43
Zenit St. Petersburg 42
Zenit Kazan 42
Fakel Novy Urengoy 40
Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 34
Ural Ufa 31
Yugra Samotlor Nizhnevartovsk 25
Yenisey Krasnoyarsk 24
ASK Nizhniy Novgorod 22
Gazprom Surgut 18
Belogorie Belgorod 16
Dinamo LO 16
Neftyanik Orenburg 13