Press release

Doha, Qatar, October 9, 2011 – Russia’s Zenit Kazan overcame an early 7-1 deficit in the first set to sweep Iran’s Paykan Tehran 26-24, 25-18, 25-23 on Sunday afternoon to improve to 2-0 in Pool A of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship being held in Doha, Qatar.

Maxim Mikhaylov paced Zenit Kazan with 17 points, while Alexander Volkov added 12 points. Reza Safaei, who was a sub in the first two sets, led Paykan Tehran with 17 points.

Zenit Kazan held a slim 8-6 margin in blocks and a 4-3 advantage in aces. Paykan Tehran committed 25 errors in the match to Zenit Kazan’s 20.

For additional information on the FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship, click here. For more informaton on the FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship, click here. For Daily Bulletins for the tournament, click here.

Trentino Diatec continues Pool B action on Oct. 11 against Qatar’s Al-Arabi Doha, while Al-Ahly Cairo face Brazil’s Sesi Sao Paulo on Oct. 10 for their third match in three days. Paykan must defeat Canada’s Trinity Western Spartans Vancouver on Oct. 10 and look for outside assistance to land a spot in the crossover semifinals on Oct. 13. Only the top two teams in the two three-team pools advance to the semifinal round.

Paykan Tehran scored the first two points of the first set and bolted to a 7-1 advantage with three errors from Zenit Kazan. Paykan Tehran extended their lead to 14-6 with three unanswered points. Nourmohammadi pounded an attack through the Zenit Kazan block for a 16-8 advantage at the second technical timeout. Zenit Kazan scored the first three points out of the break to reduce the deficit to 16-11. Zenit Kazan continued its momentum with a Mikhaylov spike to close the deficit to 20-17. Mikaylov served an ace and Sivozhelez hammered an attack to narrow the deficit to 22-21. Volkov notched back-to-back points to knot the score at 23-all, while Sivozhelez pushed Zenit Kazan in front 24-23 with a powerful spike. Mikhaylov downed the final attack at 26-24, his eighth point of the set. Zenit Kazan overcame 10 errors in the set and the initial 7-1 deficit.

Zenit Kazan continued its late first set momentum with an 8-4 lead in the second set as Volkov and Mikhaylov each scored two points and Priddy added an ace. Vermiglio took a setter dump to increase the lead to 11-6. After falling behind 13-7, Paykan Tehran scored the next two points to close the gap to 13-9. Zenit Kazan’s advantage moved to 20-12 on a three-point run. Paykan Tehran saved three set points before Berezhko ended the set with a cross-court winner at 25-18. Zenit Kazan converted 60 percent of its attacks in the second set.

Volkov collected a block to yield a 3-1 Zenit Kazan lead early in the third set. Paykan Tehran took the lead at 6-5 on consecutive aces by Safaei. Volkov put up a block after a Mikhaylov spike to produce a 12-10 advantage for Zenit Kazan. Mikhaylov hit a cross-court winner to send Paykan Tehran into a timeout down 15-12. Volkov sent Zenit Kazan into the second technical timeout leading 16-12 with an ace. Paykan Tehran scored the first four points out of the break to knot the score at 16-all capped by a Mobasheri block. Paykan Tehran took the lead on a Safaei spike off the Zenit Kazan block. Consecutive Paykan Tehran attack errors reversed the lead to Zenit Kazan at 20-19. Volkov ended a long rally with a block to put Zenit Kazan up 23-22, then reached set and match point at 24-23 on a Paykan Tehran service error. Mikhaylov concluded the set at 25-23 with a kill.