Zenit Kazan showed physical advantage to bring down the spirit of Taichung Bank and move on to semifinals
Betim, Brazil, October 21, 2016 - On the final Pool A game at FIVB Men’s Club World Championship, European champions Zenit Kazan stormed past Taichung Bank from Chinese Taipei 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-17) and booked their ticket into semifinals phase.
Maxim Mikhaylov had a marvelous performance with a match-high total of 16 points, built by three service points, two blocks and 11 spikes out of a total of 15 attempts. Matt Anderson joined him with 10 tallies as the only two players of the game to finish with double numbers.
Regardless of the final result, the efforts of Taichung Bank were quite satisfactory, mainly on a first set where they dashed to lead over Kazan for a while. However, the power of the Russian machinery rapidly shifted the course of the game, even with the narrow distances of that opening set.
As the game developed, Kazan created a difference of 8-1 on service points and 42-30 on successful spikes, powering through the hard-working Asian defence. Coach Cheng Ke-Chou tried several substitutions on the third chapter, but nothing stopped Zenit on their way to another semifinal at the tournament.
FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship Betim 2016 - Teams