Maxim Mikhaylov and Artem Volvich jump for the block as Matt Anderson looks on in Zenit Kazan's win over Gazprom-Yugra in the Russian Superleague.
Lausanne, Switzerland, November 20, 2016 - The finalists of the FIVB Men's Club World Championship Sada Cruzeiro and Zenit Kazan extended their winning streaks domestically over the weekend, though bronze medallists Diatec Trentino crashed from the top of the standings, as the major club leagues begin to heat up.
Reigning European champions and FIVB Club World Championship runners-up Zenit Kazan continue to dominate the Russian Superleague, after Wilfredo Leon scored 17 points and led them to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-16) rout at home of Kuzbass Kemerovo.
Highlights of the Zenit v Yugra game of the Russian Superleague.In fact, Zenit have now broken away at the top of the table by five points, after Lokomotiv Novosibirsk dropped a point in Surgut in their 3-2 (25-22, 25-19, 24-26, 23-25, 15-11) win over Gazprom-Yugra on the back of Nikolay Pavlov's 26 points and Ilyas Kurkaev's 6 blocks.
Zenit remain the only undefeated team after nine rounds in the Regular Season.
But in Italy, defending champions Azimut Modena handed World Championship bronze medallists Diatec Trentino their second defeat of the season, 3-2 (25-15, 18-25, 25-20, 23-25, 15-8) Sunday evening. Earvin Ngapeth and Luca Vettori each scored 18 points to lead Modena, who served 11 aces in the match.
This allowed Cucine Lube Civitanova, who had earlier thrashed Calzedonia Verona 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-22) with Osmany Juantorena scoring 16 points to climb to the top of the standings of the UnipolSai Superleague.
In Brazil, meanwhile, defending Superleague champions Sada Cruzeiro Contagem registered two back-to-back wins during the week in Maringa 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-23) over Copel Telecom and in Sao Bernardo do Campo over the local side also 3-0 (25-17, 31-29, 25-18).
Yoandy Leal with 18 points was the only player with double-digit scoring for Sada Cruzeiro in Maringa, where Rodriguinho was named MVP of the game. With Leal remaining on the bench two days later, Rodirginho was top scorer of the game in Sao Bernardo, where Isac Santos picked up the MVP award.
The results bring the reigning world champions to the top of the standings with an absolutely perfect record after four games. Also undefeated after four matches are Funvic Taubate, who swept Minas Tenis Clube of Belo Horizonte at home 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-18) with Rio 2016 Olympic Games top scorer Wallace de Souza bagging 18 points and middle blocker Otavio Pinto picking up the MVP award.
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