On Wednesday Lokomotiv BAKU finished their campaign in Pool A of the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Women in style cruising to a 3-0 win (25-16, 25-21, 25-23) over Russia’s Dinamo KAZAN. The result of this match does not change anything to the final standing of the group with Dinamo KAZAN and Lokomotiv BAKU having already secured their progression to the next round as the top side and runners-up, respectively.

The match started with a few spikes killed by Aleksandra Crncevic for Lokomotiv BAKU but Dinamo KAZAN – though missing most of their top players – did not seem keen to give in that easily and the Russians levelled the count at 4-all. However, the home side edged ahead at the first technical time-out (8-5) and widened their lead to 14-9 by means of the blocks killed by Berit Kauffeldt and the spikes by Aneta Havlickova. Dinamo KAZAN helped even more with two consecutive mistakes which shaped a 16-9 lead for Lokomotiv at the second technical time-out. Dinamo trailed 20-11 following some more errors made by Anna Matienko and libero Victoria Kuzyakina and Lokomotiv easily finished the opening set at 25-16.

Dinamo KAZAN responded with a 6-2 run in the second set but again the Russians helped the opponent with their unforced errors paving the way to the balance being restored at 7-all. Dinamo called for the first technical time-out leading by 8-7 and after the teams exchanged the lead back and forth, the Russians were still up by one point at 16-15. However, the course of the game changed after the break with Lokomotiv taking control of the operations and bringing the set to an end at 25-21.

Aneta Havlickova set the pace for Lokomotiv in the third set and Dinamo KAZAN coach Dzianis Matsveyeu did not have any option than to ask for a time-out. Dinamo could not regroup even after the break and Lokomotiv cruised to an early 8-4 lead. The course of the game did not change with the hosts claiming a five-point advantage at the second technical time-out (16-11) before Dinamo KAZAN attempted a comeback by scoring five straight points. At this stage the Italian-born coach of Lokomotiv, Carlo Parisi, stopped the game and the break brought the desired effect. Both teams delivered very good actions and the close race continued up to the final 25-23 win for Lokomotiv.

These teams now wait for the Drawing of Lots coming up on Thursday morning at the CEV headquarters in Luxembourg to get to know the name of their next opponent in the Playoffs 12.