Vojvodina disappoint Zenit St. Petersburg, claiming first win in Pool D

The CLVolleyM week started with a big surprise, coming directly from Russia - underdogs Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD claimed their first win in Pool D, outclassing the Russian powerhouse of Zenit St. Petersburg in three sets.

The players coached by Slobodan Boskan, who back in December lost 0-3 to the same opponent, disappointed the fans in Sibur Arena, recording their first three points in the competition. Thanks to this victory, Vojvodina moved to the third place in the current standing in the group, while Zenit remain second with six points. First are Berlin Recycling Volleys with nine points.

Vojvodina arrived to Petersburg counting on 10 players only - two tested positive for Covid,  setter Andrija Vilimanovic got injured and Radoslav Parapunov did not get a visa. 

The starting line up Zenit also called the attention - libero Jenia Grebennikov started as an outside hitter, while the Slovenian star Tine Urnaut took the role of a libero. Pivotal players Egor Kliuka and Victor Poletaev missed the game as well due to injuries.

• The guest from Vojvodina started good on the block, and took an early lead in the first set. With the set unfolding, they kept their leadership position, and even a time-out by Zenit’s coach Tuomas Sammelvuo didn’t work out. With 11 to nine winning spikes and as many as five kill blocks, the Serbian team opened in their favour. 

• It was a close call in the beginning of the second set (4-4), but the Serbian players managed to show better performance in the deciding moments, with Nemanja Cubrilo taking a leading role. After a point-for-point race, Vojvodina prevailed over the opponent with smart and tricky plays on the net, and even some “football” skills by Ivan Iakovlev weren’t enough. 

• It seemed like the hosts could bring back the intrigue in the match in the third set, as they stood better, even taking the leading role. However, the guest team showed nerves of steel and after a “cat and mouse” game (20-20), emerged victorious in style - with an ace by Cubrilo. 

• Fedor Voronkov from the home side topped the Best Scorer chart with 18 points to his name, followed by Vojvodina’s Milan Zecevic (16 points) and David Mehic (12).

• Mehic was named MVP of the game with 56% exc. in attack.

• Overall, Vojvodina delivered better peformance on attack (37 to 35 winning spikes, 52% efficiency) and aced five times (to two by Zenit). The players of head coach Slobodan Boskan were able to seize more on their opponents’ errors as well - 23 to 11. 

• Zenit were slightly better on the block - nine to eight.