The head coach of the Kazan volleyball “Zenith” Alexey Verbov believes that the willingness of the players to secure each other is an indicator of team identity.

On May 7, Zenit defeated Dynamo Moscow 3–2 in the third match of the final playoff series to win the Russian Championship for the 11th time. Zenit became the champion for the first time since 2018.

– Desire is the most important moment in protection and in insurance. And here other moments come to the fore. For me, insurance is an indicator of team identity and how ready we are to support each other and help. Sometimes you often have to belay your attacker. And for this you need to sit down as low as possible if you are close to the net. Not so often this ball comes to you, and many players allow themselves to be free in this element. But due to the excellent atmosphere – all for each other by the mountain – we insure a lot of balls and have one more chance to organize an attack. And, consequently, the attacker has more confidence in the attack, because he knows that five people are insuring behind him. And the ball won’t fall that easily.

Defensive actions show your attitude: how much the team wants to win. Because when the balls do not fall, it means that the mood is maximum. This is what we focus on first.

In volleyball, you can always find time to “slip” somewhere. And if someone allows himself this, then he weakens the team. Of course, the coach also needs to be monitored. But it is more productive if the players themselves do not allow each other to relax and back off. When we are working on defense, I see how the guys incite themselves. They got a taste of the protection it gives the team. Ace, block, spectacular attack often give less emotional energy to the team than defense, – Verbov told the “Championship”.