Dynamo Moscow had an easy season in the Russian Superleague. It went 16-2 in the regular season, good enough for a second seed behind Dynamo Kazan. In the playoffs, it went 2-0 against Leningradka at the round of 8, 2-0 against Yenisey in the semis, and 3-0 against rivals Dynamo Kazan at the finals for the league title. It as if the rest of the league couldn’t even put up a fight.
Moscow’s main star Natalia Goncharova commented on the win and the state of Russia’s Superleague (Championat.com):
“Kazan did not have Elitsa Vasileva, who is injured. But somehow, it looks like everyone is forgetting about the Russian Cup, in which we beat them at the beginning of the season, when Kazan was in full force. Vasileva didn’t help Kazan there, and we beat them 3-1. So this finals results in natural, we were really well prepared. This is the merit of our mentors and trainers.”
For some reason, the Super League is losing ground. Very few foreigners are playing on it now, and there are not enough contending teams. We have Moscow, Kazan and Krasnoyarsk, which can resist a little, although Krasnoyarsk did lose to Uralochka-NTMK, which speaks of its instability. I would like to have to compete in the championship. This would also benefit the national team as well.”
It looks like Goncharova is much more honest about the state of Russian club volleyball than Russian volleyball federation president Stanislav Shevchenko. As of right now, it is safe to say that the Russian Female Superleague has took a step behind Italy’s, Turkey’s, and perhaps even Brazil’s, professional leagues.
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