Korabelka vs Uralochka-NTMK — Women’s Volleyball Superliga Photos in Saint Petersburg | Anton Gauf. Sports Photographer in Saint Petersburg

January 11, 2026

This match kept rewriting itself: early momentum for the home side, then a calm, calculated response from the visitors. I shot it as a story about rhythm — how it’s won, lost, and taken back point by point.

Volleyball looks simple until you try to photograph it. Everything happens above the net, in the air, and usually half a second earlier than your shutter finger expects. I came to Korabelka (Saint Petersburg) vs Uralochka-NTMK for Round 17 of the Women’s Volleyball Superliga 2025/26, set up my “safe” angles… and immediately understood I’d be working for every frame.

Act one was pure adrenaline. Korabelka jumped ahead fast and the crowd rose with them. For match photography, that’s the sweet spot: open body language, confident attacks, celebrations that last long enough to catch. Then Uralochka started doing the opposite of flashy — clean rotations, fewer errors, steady pressure. The set flipped and went to the visitors, 20:25, and the story switched from “home sprint” to “away squeeze”.

The second set teased the same twist. Another strong start by Korabelka, another patient response from Uralochka-NTMK. When the score tightened, the best images weren’t spikes at all — they were faces during timeouts, a quick glance between teammates, the bench reacting to a single point. Uralochka took it again, 23:25.

By the third set, the visitors owned the rhythm (15:25) and the final line read 0–3. As a sports photographer Saint Petersburg, I love these nights: you leave with more than action shots. You leave with a sequence that explains how momentum changes and how discipline wins rallies. If you need sports photography coverage in Saint Petersburg — for a club, federation, tournament, or brand — let’s talk.

See the full gallery with the best moments from Korabelka vs Uralochka-NTMK here: Korableka — Uralochka-NTMK.