Courtside at the 2025 Super Cup final: Zenit Kazan vs Lokomotiv

Finals have a different temperature. You can feel it in the warm-up, in the way players stare through the net, in the split-second silence right before a serve. I’m a sports photographer based in Saint Petersburg, and this kind of match photography is exactly why I love volleyball: the action is fast, but the story sits in the details.

Zenit Kazan came out sharp and took the first two sets with confidence and grit. From my spot, it wasn’t just about the points. It was the body language after a tough rally, the quick huddle that resets a team, the calm face that says “we’re not giving this away.” When a favorite controls the early flow, my job is to avoid “generic” frames and stay ready for the moment the script cracks.

And it did. Lokomotiv Novosibirsk raised their level in the third set and finally forced that final-only kind of tension. Suddenly every exchange carried weight. You could see it in the hands on knees before receive, in the sharp gestures toward the block, in the way players celebrated not just a point, but a breath of momentum. I kept switching focus between the ball and the people around it, because the best sports photography is never only about the ball.

The fourth set was the closer: 25:21, and the match ended 3–1 (25:19, 25:17, 23:25, 25:21). Zenit Kazan secured the Super Cup for the third straight time, their 11th overall. The final whistle always gives me the same checklist: find the first reaction, the release, the quiet exhaustion, then the joy.

See the full gallery with the best moments from the 2025 Russian Men’s Super Cup Final (Zenit Kazan vs Lokomotiv Novosibirsk) here: Volleyball Super Cup. Zenit-Kazan (Kazan) — Lokomotiv (Novosibirsk).