Russian Women's Super League Opens With Two Five-Set Thrillers
The Russian women's Super League opens with seven matches, including two five-set battles, as Dynamo Moscow and Dynamo-Ak Bars start with wins.
The new Russian Super League women's season began on October 3 across four cities, with two of seven opening-round matches going the distance.
Minchanka Minsk beat Omichka Omsk 3-2 (25-20, 21-25, 21-25, 25-14, 8-15), with the visitors pulling away in the tie-break. The match featured Vera Tserkovnaya and Zarina Vositova, who moved from Omsk to Minsk over the summer. Enisey Krasnoyarsk also won in five sets, 3-2 at Proton Saratov (22-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-20, 15-12), after Proton failed to hold a five-point lead in the fourth set.
Dynamo-Ak Bars Kazan defeated Zarechye-Odintsovo 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23). Anastasia Kudryashova was named MVP with 17 points, Brayelin Martinez added 18, and Bohumila Bjarda led all scorers with 19 for Zarechye. Coach Zoran Terzić was critical of his team's play despite the win, and called for uniform refereeing interpretations of net contacts and double touches.
Uralochka-NTMK beat Leningradka 3-1 (25-17, 17-25, 25-13, 25-21), while Korabelka St. Petersburg won 3-1 at Tulitsa Tula (24-26, 25-20, 25-21, 25-20). Dynamo Moscow swept Dynamo-Metar Chelyabinsk 3-0 (25-19, 25-8, 25-20), serving nine aces, including four from captain Ekaterina Yenina in the second set. Lokomotiv Kaliningrad beat Dynamo Krasnodar 3-1 (25-20, 16-25, 25-22, 25-22), despite ten aces from the visitors, who had won the Volleyball TV Channel Cup in Khabarovsk days earlier.
