An open volleyball tournament of

The open volleyball tournament of OJSC "MTZ" among enterprises and organizations of Belarus and Russia has concluded in Vitebsk. The competitions, with the participation of teams from our city, Minsk, Gomel, and Samara, were held at the Central Sports Complex.

Vyacheslav Durnov, Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, took part in the closing ceremony of the competitions.

- Volleyball is a very interesting and democratic game, - emphasized Vyacheslav Viktorovich. - It is gratifying that more and more teams are gathering for this tournament. Yes, amateurs are playing, but they compete on the sports ground with the enthusiasm of professionals. It's great that there are so many spectators here, and they actively support the players. And the spectators are representatives of work collectives. It turns out that collectives are united around volleyball – this is wonderful. On behalf of the Regional Executive Committee, I would like to thank the organizers of the tournament, and thank the participants for the beautiful game. And for the vivid sporting emotions. May the strongest win. But, perhaps, everyone won at this tournament. I am sure that over time the geography of the tournament will expand. Teams from other Russian regions will also join.

In the final match, UP "Vitebskoblgaz" and OJSC "MTZ" met. The Minsk team led for a long time in the first set. But after a time-out, the hosts turned the game around, bringing the set to victory. In the second set, "Vitebskoblgaz" won much more confidently, ultimately winning the match with a score of 2:0.

- The opponent had an unconventional style of play, - commented the winner's player Evgeny Lyutsky for "Vitebskiye Vesti". - We didn't adapt immediately.

Thus, "Vitebskoblgaz" won all their matches, taking first place. Throughout the tournament, the winners lost only one set in the match against the team from Samara State Agrarian University.

- The formula for our success is diligent training and a great desire to win, - reported Evgeny Lyutsky. - The team trains 3 times a week for 2 hours. Our team consists of employees from different departments. I work as the head of the material and technical support department. The team also includes employees from the accounting department, the gas pipeline corrosion protection service, and the subscriber service. We have former players from professional volleyball teams who later moved to work at "Vitebskoblgaz". Of course, this also helped us win.

OJSC "MTZ" and RUP "Vitebskenergo" took second and third places, respectively.

The team from Samara finished fourth.

- Of course, we are disappointed with the tournament results, - said SGAU player Alexey Galaev. - We could have played better. But overall, the impressions of the tournament are only positive. We were excellently received in Vitebsk. A good, clean city with beautiful streets and architecture. We are also satisfied with the high level of the competition.

Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by