Dinamo KAZAN easily claimed their home match with Bosnia and Herzegovina’s national champions ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo BRČKO on schedule for the 8th Finals of the 2017 CEV Volleyball Cup – Women. The Russians stormed to a quick 3-0 victory (25-12, 25-11, 25-17) to get an edge ahead of the re-match that will take place in two weeks.

The Bosnian team travelled to Kazan without their head coach and some of their players, but this did not seem to be that strange since they had done the same also in their previous matches in the European Cups this season. However, Dinamo KAZAN made it clear from the very beginning who was going to rock the night – and the hosts stormed to a commanding 8-1 lead in the first set. The hosts performed a lot better than their opponents did and this resulted in a 16-6 score, which set the tone for Dinamo’s eventual 25-12 set win.

The second set followed the same plot with Dinamo KAZAN rallying to a landslide 25-11 victory. Some mistakes made by the Russian team helped the Bosnian visitors claim an 8-6 lead in the third set but soon afterwards Dinamo KAZAN were back on track, and they comfortably secured a 3-0 victory.

Mirsad Elezovic, assistant coach of ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo BRČKO: “We played against one of the best Russian teams, which means that we took on one of the best teams in the world. We did our best, and yet Dinamo KAZAN deservedly won this match. We will take our lessons from this game. Our attacks were not good and effective enough today; and since Dinamo KAZAN have very tall and strong middle blockers, it was difficult for us to find a way through their block. I do expect a different game at home in two weeks, especially since our fans are extremely supportive and this can provide my players with an extra boost of energy.”

Alexander Perepelkin, assistant coach of Dinamo KAZAN: “As you could see, the level of these two teams is quite different, and yet it is good that we won 3-0 in the end because the last set showed that we cannot afford making any easy mistakes. There is no excuse for that. We cannot give so many points away to our opponents. We should play with more focus and concentration than we did in the third set, especially in the first half of that set. Therefore this match provides us with many things to analyse, review and improve on.”