The first match that fans of domestic volleyball saw in 2024 took place between the teams of VC "Zhytychi-Polissia" (Zhytomyr) and VC "Prometey" (Dnipro).
On the eve of this meeting, Zhytomyr had 7 victories in 7 matches and 20 points. Dnipro - 6 victories in 6 matches (18 points).
That is, none of the teams has lost in the Super League in the current season. Therefore, the match was expected to be interesting and intense. And so it happened.
Super League-Dmart 2023-2024
IV round. January 6, 2024
VC "Zhytychi-Polissia" (Zhytomyr) - VC "Prometey" (Dnipro)– 2:3 (25:22, 23:25, 25:23, 22:25, 12:15)
Starting line-up of VC "Zhytychi-Polissia": Shapoval (scored 22 points), Babic (7), Vilimanovic (5), Rudnytskyi (4), Luban (17), Didovic (12), Khvasta (l), Yablonskyi (l).
Head coach: Serhii Tereikovskyi.
Starting line-up of VC "Prometey": Viietskyi (scored 25 points), Shchytkov (7), Teromenko (3), Dryja (11), Yanchuk (12), Stankovic (8), Brova (l), Boiko (l). Substitutes: Shapoval (0), Kryvobok (6), Yevstratov (0), Hladenko (5).
Head coach: Andrii Levchenko.
In the first set, the Zhytomyr club immediately took the lead (8:4). Thanks to the attacks of Alen Didovic, Mykyta Luban, and Viktor Shapoval, "Zhytychi" kept their distance throughout the set (17:13). But the current champion of the country did not give up and did not stop trying to reverse its course. The end of the opening set was extremely spectacular (22:22). On the serve of an opposite Viktor Shapoval, Zhytomyr residents managed to get ahead, and Luka Babic's block finished the set in favor of his team - 25:22.
In the second set, the fight became even more intense: the teams fought evenly and took turns taking the lead. The Dnipro team earned break points (10:7) on the serve of middle blocker Dawid Dryja. However, after the time-out, Zhytomyr quickly established parity on the scoreboard (13:13). This segment of the game was accompanied by long, emotional rallies and powerful attacks by both teams (17:17). Both teams: Zhytomyr and Dnipro demonstrated excellent game in defense (20:20). In the end, the captain of the "red and whites" Vitalii Shchytkov made an ace (23:21), and his teammates successfully played in the attack - 25:23.
After a 10-minute break, the teams fought with new strength. Until the middle of the third set, the players of "Prometey" acted as leaders (7:4). But then the game leveled out (16:16 – 22:22). Andrija Vilimanovic earned a break point with a block (23:22), and then his teammates played perfectly in the attack - 25:23.
In the fourth set, "Prometey" took the lead again. Despite the number of errors on the service, Andrii Levchenko's wards were able to compensate for it with effective attacks from Dmytro Viietskyi (9:5 - 16:13 - 19:15). However, the players of Zhytomyr are known for their fighting character: they were able to level the game thanks to Viktor Shapoval's ace (22:22). But in the next episode, he made a mistake (22:23). Viietskyi's block and another mistake by Shapoval ended this set - 25:22 in favor of "Prometey".
Everything was decided on a tie-break. Andrii Levchenko's wards immediately began to dominate the PVLU arena (3:0 – 6:2). Instead, the players of Zhytomyr made their own mistakes due to obvious fatigue. In the end, 15:12 and 3-2 in favor of "Prometey".
The opposite Dmytro Viietsky became the most effective player. He scored 25 points and received the MVP award.
Watch online broadcasts of Super League-Dmart matches on the DIVISPORT YouTube channel or Megogo and Sweet.TV platforms.
