Dinamo KAZAN won 3:1 POTSDAM in their arena in the second match of 16th final of the CEV Cup and advanced to the next round.

 

Dinamo KAZAN and POTSDAM now occupy the equal position in their national championships with 7 wins each and occupying the third position. The first match of the 16th final of the CEV Cup was also equal. However, one should remember that before that match Dinamo had a difficult trip to Siberia, and now the Russian team plays at home.

 

1st set. The Russians started very briskly on their home site - 10:5. But the Germans also got the feel on the court and evened the score by middle of the set -17:17. The hosts managed to keep the initiative and ended the first set with a win.

 

2nd set. However, as early as in the next set, the situation reversed - 2:6 for the guests. Dinamo rushed to chase - 6:6. But the German team played very well in defence and attacked more effectively -10:16. After the ace by Antonia Stautz - 24:22 - the Russians had no more chances in this set.

 

3th set. In the third set, thr hosts were lucky again -8:4. The first tempo made Dinamo's attack more diverse and simplified the job for the key attackers. A good spike was shown by a 15 year old substitute player Arina Fedorovtseva - 15:6. The russians won the set with a large advantage and returned their leadership in the match -2:1.

 

4th set. The fourth set was the hardest in the match. For a long time the struggle went on equal terms -12:10. Then the guests rushed forward with the sets by Stautz and Abercrombie - 14:19. But with support of the tribunes, the Russians managed to catch up in the last spikes and clinched the match.

 

Evgeniya Startseva, captain of Dinamo KAZAN: “I cannot say that the Germans surprised us. We knew what to be prepared for. But they played well in defense and they had complicated sets. And they play really fast. It is a really very good team, hard to play with. At the end of the match everything could have gone differently, and then we would have played the fifth set. So, it's good it was like that today.”

 

Guillermo Naranjo, head coach of POTSDAM: “Dinamo is a very good team. And Samanta Fabris is a very strong diagonal hitter. But I think we played well too. Although 1:3 is not 2:3 as in the previous game, I am pleased with the team. Of course, we failed in the second set, but it is women's volleyball. Such things happen.”

 

CEV Cup. 16th Final. Second match.

Dinamo Kazan – Potsdam - 3:1 (25:20, 15:25, 25:12, 25:23)

18th December. Russia. Kazan. Volleyball Center “Saint Petersburg”.

Referee: Bozkurt B. (Turkey). Match time: 1.44 (25+24+25+30).

Dinamo: Biryukova (3), Maryukhnich (10), Koroleva (10), Fabris (25), Statrseva – C (4), de la Cruz (15) – starting line-up, Podkopaeva (libero), Simanikhina (libero), Kotikova (1), Popova (1), Fedorovtseva (4), Akimova.

Potsdam: Nichol, Abercrombie (14), Medic (13), Stautz – C (14), Escamilla (6), Grunding (5) – starting line-up, Jegdic (libero), Holzig, Imoudu, Emonts (1).

Points – 90:80, serve – 5:3, spike – 59:40, block – 9:10, reception – 46%:40%, errors – 27:20.

(Statistics by “Dinamo Kazan” coach-statistics M.Kuzovenin)