Germany NT 2011

    So far there has been no news about who will play in German NT this year. Last year after WCH Guidetti said he will continue working with the same players, but the door is always open for other players who perform well. So my guess for the roster is:


    Setters: Kathleen Weiss and Denise Hanke will probably be the main setters again. If Mareen Apitz decides to come to NT she also has a chance to be 2nd setter. Lena Möllers and Nadja Jenzewski are playing in the same club and there is no clear 1st setter, but Möllers is currently injured, so Jenzewski for now is starter in her club. I don't think either of them will be in NT, maybe Lena Möllers will get a chance but the others are better, she is just tall.


    Opposites: No doubt that Margareta Kozuch and Saskia Hippe will be the choice if they stay healthy. Maybe Sabrina Ross and Tatjana Zautys can be invited again, but they are both already over 30, so I guess Guidetti will go with the younger ones.


    Middle Blockers: Corina Ssuschke and Christiane Fürst are sure, but the fight for the places on bench is interesting. Nadja Schaus, Berit Kauffeldt and Anja Brandt all play in the same club and even there it's not always clear which of them is the best, they all have different strengths. Stefanie Karg can also be a candidate if she accepts the invitation. Kathy Radzuweit as usual plays a horrible season in our league, but whenever she comes to NT she plays much better, so we will see if she gets and uses her chance.


    Liberos: Also easy to choose...Kerstin Tzscherlich will be first choice, the battle for the other places will be among Lenka Dürr, Lisa Thomsen and Janine Völker.


    and now the big problem...
    Outside Hitters: Not much choice here...Heike Beier is not playing well, Anne Matthes managed to get herself a place on the bench of an A2 team in Italy and putting up horrible numbers whenever she plays, Maren Brinker is supposed to be the best German OH but in our league she is definitely not even among the top 5 OHs. And there are no other candidates...Stephanie Kestner from Dresden was the best German OH in our league but she suffered a serious knee injury (once again) some weeks ago and will be out for 6 months. Regina Burchardt is sometimes playing well, sometimes bad, but I think she is not the kind of player Guidetti wants and also not really better than any of the NT OHs. Lina Meyer played a quite bad season after being the best German OH in our league in the last few years, her club will go down to 2nd league next season so I hope she will finally join a good club to improve her performance again. Sarah Petrausch is starter in her club, but also not having good statistics. In our Junior NT there also are no real candidates to play on a high level as OH soon...
    So after all I expect the choice will be the same as last year with Beier, Brinker and Matthes.

    Don`t be so sad Matthias. You have a character! That`s why German girls will show the best!!! They are together- just dangerous girls!


    I hope our team will have the same charachter you have. Then we can even be a chapion with the expected additionals , but I am so afraid of the fiasko!

    The way things are, no invitation have been sent out to the players as of yet.


    Setters: Weiss and Hanke, yeah. Nadja Jenzewski has always been a choice, but didn´t want to play in NT because of her studies. As far as Möllers is concerned, i think you don´t do her justice. Hanke, right now, is a good setter, no doubt. She reached her level of playing at an - for a volleyball player - still early age. You can rest assured, that she will stay on that level, but won´t learn that much new, anymore. Möllers, on the other hand, is still shapeable. In two, or three years, she will probably play better than Hanke now, whereas the latter will still be on the same level she is now. In the meantime, Möllers is wax in Guidetti´s hands. He can shape her according to his ideas of an setter. I´m telling you, don´t count her out...


    Opposites: Well, Kozuch for sure, but what about Schaus? She is Opp and only played middle block, because Fürst was injured. Would be easy for her to go back to her normal position. As for Hippe...well, if you know her, i guess it would be better for her to take care of her health first and then come back to NT or volleyball at all...


    Middle Blockers: Ssuschke and Fürst, but that´s it. Kauffeldt and Brandt wouldn´t be my first choice (yeah, i know, there ain´t too much good german middleblockers) and i have to agree Radzuweit plays horrible. Well, horrible may be a little harsh, she is just unstable in her performance. Maybe, Dörfler, Bremer or Hildebrand, just to name a few for example, will get an invitation. I don´t know. Karg, of course, is indeed a candidate. Also Loraine Henkel comes to mind, but due to her injuries over the last seasons she lacks playing experience. It also remains to be seen, if Guidetti keeps on planning to let Schaus play as middle blocker, now that Fürst is back in NT.


    Liberos: Tzscherlich and Dürr, no doubt about it. Dürr needs to get more games in NT. Let her play the friendlies, no matter who the opponent is and no matter if they win or loose. I guess, you have to take one thing into consideration. Kerstin wants to play the 2012 Olympics, but then what? Lenka needs to gain some international level experience, because if Kerstin quits volleyball after London, Germany needs a libero who can already play on a certain international level.
    Thomsen will only come in to strengthen reception and Völker, well, she might get an invitation, but she really ain´t a choice at all.


    Outside Hitters: I agree, this is indeed a big problem. Kestner is known for being prone to injuries and illness. That´s why she still plays in Dresden, because no other club really wants her. Sarah Petrausch, well, even though her stats ain´t that good, you maybe have to take into consideration, that she must be very tired. She is in her first year of a dual education system, comes just in time to practice, with no chance to recover between work and sports. She also has problems with her shoulder. But i guess, her stats will be back to normal, if she plays in NT, because if she plays in NT the burden of having to go to work is not there. Brinker is just horrible at reception, and that´s where Thomsen chimes in. But as you say, in the end it probably all comes down to Beier, Brinker and Matthes.

    Yes, but the team has genious Guidetti. He can create always a good team, even without OHs. So no need to worry. And this team plays together for few years already, so it is most stable in Europe I think.

    Matthes doesn't play in Italian A2 and when she is on the court she plays very very bad :what:

    Raven, I see that you are very well informed :)
    First I have to say I am not at all a fan of Lena Möllers, and in general of tall setters, so I am a little biased maybe ;) I just don't like it when setters move slowly and without elegance, so I prefer "classic" setters with max. 1,85 height. And I don't think being wax in Guidetti's hands is a good option for a setter, I think his coaching strengths are in other areas because he never was a setter.


    I noticed that I forgot two players that are playing in Suhl for Felix Koslowski and thus might also have a chance to be at least in NT training: Mareike Hindriksen (setter) and Claudia Steger (OH). I am not a big fan of either of them because both have bad techniques that certainly won't do on international level, but they are playing well in Suhl after all, so we will see what happens...

    Kozuch and Saskia will be chosen for opp. but i think Saskia better than performance this season according to Kozuch.

    "Lo sbaglio più grande e quello di credere di aver vinto prima ancora di giocare la partita"

    Quote from Matthias

    Raven, I see that you are very well informed :)
    First I have to say I am not at all a fan of Lena Möllers, and in general of tall setters, so I am a little biased maybe ;) I just don't like it when setters move slowly and without elegance, so I prefer "classic" setters with max. 1,85 height. And I don't think being wax in Guidetti's hands is a good option for a setter, I think his coaching strengths are in other areas because he never was a setter.


    I noticed that I forgot two players that are playing in Suhl for Felix Koslowski and thus might also have a chance to be at least in NT training: Mareike Hindriksen (setter) and Claudia Steger (OH). I am not a big fan of either of them because both have bad techniques that certainly won't do on international level, but they are playing well in Suhl after all, so we will see what happens...

    Well, size don´t necesseraly means that it is slowly and without elegance, although it may look that way. Same could be said about huge players receiving. That, to me, also looks inelegant. But, as with most things, in the end it´s just a matter of taste ;)
    With being wax in Guidetti´s hands, i didn´t mean like he himself was gonna coach her, but Guidetti sure has a certain idea of how he wants his setters to play. But hey, there´s assistant coaches and, for sure, also conversations with the respective players´ coaches.


    For setters, there´s another name i´d like to throw in, Mona Elwassimy of Stuttgart. Mona has already been invited to NT, courtesy of Jan Lindenmair. Mona is a young talented setter, but don´t really gets a chance in her club. The best for her would be to go to another club after this season, where she can play as no. 1 setter and gain experience. She may be another candidate for the future.

    IMO Guidetti should try Kozuch as OH (he tried Hippe as OH last season and she did not play well). Without a good OH Germany will be always a good team but with no chance to win something. Brinker played good in her first season. But she did not improve in any part of the game. She is weak in reception and attack. Beier is the same thing, but better in reception (2nd libero).

    The problem is that Kozuch attacks much better from pos 1 and 2 than from pos 4, so for me this is not a good option...Hippe used to play OH in her previous club and turned into Opp mainly on Guidetti's orders, I think it would have been better to try to keep her as OH.

    I still think that Brinker still has chance to be really solid OH. She was good last season. Don't think that Hippe would be better.

    I think it's definitely worth giving a look at Kozuch in position 4. I've seen a few of her Russian League matches where she receives serve and hits from position 4 in some rotations and she's not fantastic but I'd take it over Beier or Brinker any day of the week. I can't see Germany going any further than they have recently without making a change like that or bringing in new talent and from the sounds of what people are saying there don't seem to be any real strong candidates for the OH position.

    Patricia Grohmann (OH, SC Potsdam) mentioned in an interview that she will be in NT again this year. She had some very good matches this season, but also for some time was not even starter in her club. I don't think she will be the solution for our OH problems either, but she is young (20 or 21) and maybe can become a good player.

    Quote from Matthias

    Patricia Grohmann (OH, SC Potsdam) mentioned in an interview that she will be in NT again this year. She had some very good matches this season, but also for some time was not even starter in her club. I don't think she will be the solution for our OH problems either, but she is young (20 or 21) and maybe can become a good player.


    Mathias, be optimist a bit ;) I am also realist but we need to be a little optimist ;)
    Take care!

    German team roster for Montreux:


    1: DÜRR Lenka
    2: WEISS Kathleen
    3: HANKE Denise
    4: KAUFFELDT Berit
    5: PETRAUSCH Sarah
    6: HIPPE Saskia
    7: GROHMANN, Patricia
    8: MÖLLERS Lena
    9: APITZ Mareen
    10: MATTHES Anne
    11: FÜRST Christiane
    12: BEIER Heike
    13: WALKENHORST Pia-Sabrina
    14: KOZUCH Margareta
    15: BRINKER Maren
    16: BRANDT, Anja
    17: THOMSEN Lisa
    18: SCHAUS Nadja


    Tzscherlich and Ssuschke are the only key players which are not in the roster. Ssuschke will get married this summer, so maybe she joins NT a bit later. Pia Walkenhorst is definitely there just to gain experience, she is just 17 years old and now didn't play for some months because of a shoulder surgery. I really wish Guidetti had invited some new players, except Walkenhorst all players have been in NT before :|

    @ Matthias


    Who is, in your opinion the better setter for NT...Hanke or Weiss?

    Good question...personally I am a fan of Denise Hanke, even though recently she did not perform at her best in our league. Weiss has a lot more experience for sure, but Hanke can play extremely well with quick attacks, at least in Schwerin, I hope she can do the same in NT. If Mareen Apitz really comes to NT she also has a good chance to be in the team, many people consider her the best setter in German league, but then again we'll have to see if she can play with NT attackers as good as with Dresden's attackers.

    I agree it would´ve been good, if Guidetti had invited some new players. There are some great talents coming to mind, like Ann-Christin Quade, Mareike Hindriksen and Claudia Steger.

    I wouldn't call them "great talents", but yeah, I'd also like to see some new faces, or some returning faces, maybe Regina Burchardt or Dominice Steffen. Well, maybe they get a chance in other tournaments...but I think Guidetti won't make any experiments this year because he wants to achieve the best possible success to have a good situation in OG qualification.

    Well, Quade and Steger have been voted MVP multiple times, they´re both playing a good season, so i think it´s safe to say, they´re great talents...Regina Burchhardt is, without a doubt, a very important, if not the most important player for Wiesbaden, but somehow it seems Guidetti don´t wanna have her in NT, which quite honestly, i don´t understand.
    Kathy Radzuweit may have some bad performances, but i also wonder why she ain´t on the roster for Montreux. Anyone knows more ´bout that?