Dinamo KAZAN beat Serbian Vizura 3:0 in the home game of the 3rd round of the Champions League and retained leadership in the Group C.

The competition schedule was drawn up in such a way that the first match of the Women's Champions League in Kazan took place only in late January. First of all, Dinamo started out right away in the 4th round of the tournament without qualifying games. Besides, the Kazan girls had two road games: in Bulgaria and Poland. Two 3:0 victories brought Dinamo KAZAN to the 1st place in the Group C.

1th set. This time, the Champions League schedule brought together Rishat Gilyazutdinov's team and the Serbian "sharks" from Vizura. And since last year, when the teams met in the CEV Cup, young Serbian girls have apparently improved their skill level. The opponents went almost head to head till the middle of the first set - 13:13. But then, thanks to a complex serve by Irina Koroleva, Dinamo made a 6-point leap – 20:15, which secured the team's victory in the first set.

2nd set. Vizura does not give up, however, and even increases the onslaught. The fight in the second set grew even more intense, in comparison with the first one – 9:10, 16:15. However, the Serbian team simply does not have such strong and tall strikers as Irina Voronkova and Natalya Mammadova, whose devastating spikes brought Dinamo KAZAN ahead at the end of the game – 22:18. And yet the Serbian team is about to catch up with the rivals after a successful block – 24:23. But the time-out called by the Kazan coach and Koroleva's tip decide the outcome of the second set.

3rd set. The first two sets, lost yet very tense, destroy the mental state of young Serbian volleyball players. The Russian team players, on the contrary, are on a roll. Through a series of complex serves and several successful blocks Dinamo KAZAN leaped far ahead – 8:1, 12:2. Rishat Gilyazutdinov decides to use this lead to provide the young players with some game practice. These substitutions in the Russian team allow the Serbian players to slightly improve the score – 19:9. However, it is already obvious, who will be the winner in the third set and in the match, in general.

Alexander Perepelkin, assistant coach of Dinamo KAZAN: “Our task today was to win and we made it happen. Of course, it would be great to win all sets with the best possible score. However, we appreciate it that Vizura put up a fight, something we have been short of in the Russian championship. The opposing team managed to keep up for two sets but by sticking together we got through and took a 3-0 win.”

Natalya Mammadova, opposite hitter of Dinamo KAZAN: “Vizura is a very strong team that fights till the end. I think that the number of such opponents will increase in the Champions League. We are happy that today we took a 3-0 win and showed that we are much stronger because we will have a return game at their home and for sure it won’t be an easy one.”

Sladjana Eric, captain of Vizura RUMA: “I am so happy that for two sets we were able to show a really good game. We are working every day for a match like this. However, our domestic competition back home in Serbia is of a very low level. On top of this, we do not have any star players like those playing for Dinamo KAZAN.”

Champions League. Pool С. 3rd tour.
Dinamo (KAZAN, Russia) – Vizura (RUMA, Serbia) - 3:0 (25:18, 25:23, 25:11)
25th January. Russia. Kazan. Volleyball Center “Saint Petersburg”.
Referee: Zulfugarov E. (Azerbaijan). Match time: 1.18 (25+31+22).
Dinamo: Koroleva (9), Voronkova (11), Mammadova (13), Startseva – C, Vasileva (10), Samoilenko (8) – starting line-up, Ulanova (libero), Kotikova (3), Filishtinskaia, Malygina (1).
Vizura: Eric – C (10), Lozo (7), Lazovic (10), Aleksic (6), Cirovic, Caric (4) – starting line-up, Dinic (libero), Gajevic, Veselinovic, Kocic J. (1), Rodic.
Points – 75:52, serve – 3:2, spike – 41:29, block – 11:7, reception – 48%:38%, errors – 11:20.
(Statistics by “Dinamo Kazan” coach-statistics M.Kuzovenin)