District Volleyball Championship

Following the recently concluded district mini-football championship, another district sports competition is underway – the volleyball championship. The second round has commenced.

While the women's division has a relatively small number of teams (players from Stai, the central district hospital, DRSU-202, the agro-technical college, Raipo, and KUP DROTS “Zhemchuzhina”), nine teams will be competing for the championship title among the men.

In the women's part of the tournament, the college and “Zhemchuzhina” teams took to the court. The game was evenly matched until the first break, but with an improved serve, the college players established a comfortable lead over their opponents and secured the set (25:14). The pattern of play did not change in the second set, but while the score difference fluctuated between two and five points in favour of the college before the second break, a 9:3 run by the college athletes after it predetermined the outcome of the set and the entire match (25:15).

The match between the Raipo and DRSU-202 players promised to be more hard-fought. As it turned out, it was indeed so. The game stretched for a good hour and was full of dangerous moments and regrettable errors from both sides.

The start of the first set, when the Raipo players scored five unanswered points, was a "cold shower" for their opponents. An additional incentive for the DRSU-202 players to catch up was scoring a point after a two-minute rally for the seventh point. They not only caught up with their opponents but took a three-point lead at the end of the set (21:18). The Raipo opponents were unwilling to easily give up the starting set that had begun so successfully and equalised the score. Nevertheless, the last two rallies went to DRSU-202 (25:23).

The second set of this principled confrontation turned out to be a mirror image, but with a slight caveat. Initially, the Raipo players were ahead (15:11), then DRSU-202 (18:21). Compared to the first set, this time fortune favoured the other side – the Raipo athletes were more successful in the decisive points (25:23).

Spectators were treated to a "tie-break". The momentum shifted from one side to the other. After a score of 11:10 in favour of DRSU-202, it seemed that the players would "push through" their resilient opponents. However, they did not succeed, and the consumer union team secured an overall victory in the third set (15:11) and the entire game.

Even after just a few matches, it is clear what an intense struggle awaits the fans. Nobody wants to play the role of the "whipping boys," which means it will be even more interesting going forward, as this is only the beginning. Come and support your favorites in the gym of the physical culture and recreation center.

Evgeny NIKOLAEV.