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When BERLIN Recycling Volleys got on the court today, they had 5 victories in a row. It did not scare Zenit SAINT PETERSBURG. On the first two sets, the public in Saint Petersburg watched a very equal match. Lead by Sergey Grankin, the Germans won the first set (25-21).

On the second set, Zenit, coached by Sammelvuo, improved its serves and that guaranteed an advantage - by the end of the set, Zenit had scored 7 aces in total against 3 from Recycling Volleys. The final score of the set was 21-25 and the match was 1-1.

Zenit kept with a slight advantage in the third set as the middle blocker Dmitrii Pashitskii scored important winning strikes. Recycling Volley kept chasing them and requested a challenge when the score was 21-23. But the video confirmed Zenit’s point, and they won the set on the following serving.

When teams got to the 4th set, it was all or nothing to Recycling Volleys. The teams took turns in the lead, adding point by point on the board (15-15/ 16-16 17-17 18/18 19/19 20/20 21/21 22/22 23/23 24/24). The arena was almost ready to celebrate when Zenit scored 24/25 and was going to serve for their first Match Point. But the German coach didn’t give up on the match: he asked for time and watched his team save two match points to close the 4th set with 28-26 as a final score, pushing the match to a tie-break.

The tie-break was also nervous, with teams once more taking turns in the lead until Zenit got the first chance to finish the match (13-14) but the score was equal again due to a server error. Sergey Grankin then served for Recycling Volleys and guaranteed Recycling Volleys first Match Point with an incredible Ace. The point was confirmed after a challenge, but on the following Zenit made it equal again (15-15). The Germans got another match point and did not lose this second chance. The tie-break’s final score was 17-15 and Recycling Volleys won the match with 3 sets to 2. Carle Timothée, outside spiker of Recycling Volleys was awarded as the MVP of the day.