The Akademiya-Kazan student volleyball team started the new season of the Russian Premier League A championship on their home court. Last weekend, the volleyball team of the Volga Region University of Sports and Tourism hosted Avtomobilist from St Petersburg in the Burevestnik Sports Complex.
The start of the season turned to be "hot", the first meeting was held in five games. The guests, who at the end of last season were way below the Kazan team in the standings, immediately put up a fight. And if in the first game the hosts were able to convert their advantage in goals and win (25:20), in the next two games "Avtomobilist" was able to realize most of their plans (21:25, 22:25). The next two sets were "rocky" - the advantage went from one team to another. Everything was decided in the end - in the fourth set the academicians could cope with anxiety, in the fifth set the guests got stronger nerves (25:23, 13:15).
The second game had a different character, although the volleyball players from the northern capital were striving to win. In the first game they proved it, winning with a difference of four goals (21:25). However afterwards Maxim Maksimov's wards managed to make all the necessary changes and won three games in a row (25:23, 25:21, 25:18).
As Akademia-Kazan's head coach noticed, the first game of the season is always a little nervous when everyone is nervous and trying hard. "In the first meeting the opponent team played more reliably, we made too many mistakes, 20 attacking ones on the first day. However, we scored 17 points on the block, which is a good result, - Maxim Maximov said. - In the second game we calmed down a little, we realised that our opponent can take us on. We made fewer intake errors, which helped us get more quality assists, which made a difference in the final result. I think with each subsequent game we'll pick up the pace and improve the quality of the game.
