Russia: Zenit Kazan win regular-season (and get right to host Final Six)

Two rounds prior to the conclusion of the regular season in the 2021/22 Russian Volleyball Championship, Zenit-Kazan secured the leadership in the competition.
Making an 18th consecutive success in Superliga Paribet (Суперлига Парибет – Мужчины), they guaranteed themselves also the right to host the Final Six for the title.

In Round 24, the team coached by Aleksey Verbov didn’t have difficulties prevailing over the home side of Fakel Novi Urengoy in straight sets, thus being 3 wins ahead of 2nd-placed Dinamo Moscow (the win-loss ratio is the number one criterion for determining the difference between teams in the standings in Superliga) and 15 points.
The victory came despite several absences: coach Verbov, Christenson, Mikhaylov, Bednorz, Volvich
and A. Volkov.
Even though 3rd-placed Lokomotiv have 2 matches less played, they wouldn’t be able to catch up with Zenit, no matter if the latter loses both matches until the end and Novosibirsk side triumphs in all 4, as Zenit have 15 points more.

Dinamo and Lokomotiv will fight for second place in the remainder of the regular season, which is a place that secures a direct qualification for the Final Six along with leaders Zenit-Kazan themselves.

Either way, on the other matches of the day, victory for Dinamo Moscow (2-3 on the field of Krasnoyarsk), Zenit Saint Petersburg (0-3 on the field of Yugra Nizhnevartovsk), Kuzbass Kemerovo (1-3 on the field of Ufa) and Lokomotiv Novosibirsk (0-3 on the field of ASK Nizhniy Novgorod).

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🏐| 2021/22 Superliga Parimatch – Regular Season – Round 24

| April 1, 2022
• Dinamo LO – Neftyanik Orenburg
3-2 (23:25, 25:10, 25:27, 25:12, 15:7)

👉🏼 April 2

• Yenisey Krasnoyarsk – Dinamo Moscow 2-3 (25:21, 20:25, 19:25, 25:23, 9:15)
Top Scorers: Klets 20, Skrimov 17, Maksimov 11, Valeev 9; Shchkulyavichus 22, Bogdan 21, Podlesnykh 16, Zhuk 8.

• Yugra Samotlor Nizhnevartovsk – Zenit Saint Petersburg 0-3 (22:25, 24:26, 17:25)
Top Scorers: Galimov 12, Litvinenko 10, Shpilev 8; Poletaev 17, Voronkov 11, Kosmin 11.

• ASK Nizhniy Novgorod – Lokomotiv
Novosibirsk 0-3 (19:25, 16:25, 22:25)
Top Scorers: Kuhno 9, Pyatirkin 9; Perrin 14, Luburic 9, Chereiskiy 9, Kurkaev 9.

• Ural Ufa – Kuzbass Kemerovo 1-3 (19:25, 25:14, 20:25, 23:25)
Top Scorers: Rybakov 22, Maréchal 12, Feoktistov 12; Pakshin 19, Papazov 14, Markin 13, Krsmanovic 11.

• Fakel Novy Urengoy – Zenit Kazan 0-3 (21:25, 22:25, 20:25)
Top Scorers: Babkevich 16, Dineikin 7, Morozov 5; Volkov 25, Surmachevskiy 14, Zemchenok 7.

| April 3
• Gazprom Surgut – Belogorie Belgorod 0-3 (21:25, 23:25, 21:25)

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🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
Zenit Kazan 70
Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 58
Dinamo Moscow 55
Zenit Saint Petersburg 50
Dinamo LO 43
Belogorie Belgorod 38
Yugra Samotlor Nizhnevartovsk 31
Kuzbass Kemerovo 31
ASK Nizhniy Novgorod 26
Fakel Novy Urengoy 23
Yenisey Krasnoyarsk 22
Gazprom Surgut 17
Ural Ufa 17
Neftyanik Orenburg 8

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