Russian NT 2015

Well i think Bavykina should be in team A. Now that Kosheleva is out of the first week of WGP Bavykina is the only reasonable replacement

IMHO, Zaryazhko should be in the A team. If she's well used, she can be a great atacker. And I think she's playing the best VB of her career. Better than in 2013.

Agree with Emil about Pisarenko. She's a good player. What she lacks is consistency, maybe due to bad phiysical shape. She could jump higher, and, considering her size, she has the potential to be a much better blocker in position 4.

I also agree that Isaeva is on the top of her game. And is really a pity that she can't receive.

Oh, I forget to say: there's at least one confirmed exchange between the 2 NT's. During the Universiade, Matienko will move to A team and probably Efimova will go to B team.

And, still about the B team, I have the impression that, if they had a better coach than Pankov, that group could be performing much better. There were several moments against Bulgaria, Serbia and Turkey, when Russia played in the same level, but gave up in crucial moments making very silly mistakes. I guess it's lack of a real good coaching background. Pankov is a nice guy, who loves to give a chance to the youngsters. But, as a coach, he really has limitations.

my opinion....
İsaeva could be more useful than Malykh...Malykh's adv is she is younger than İsaeva. İsaeva a short player for being an opp for russian standards..
Zaryazkho is best attacking russian Mb on zone 3....
Pisarenko's reception looked not bad to my eyes..the problem could be maybe her attack for russian team A
Bavykina can't be OH with her reception!!

Quote from Emil

I think that's a fair call, Matienko played okay in EG, despite not being a big fan of her, she could be helpful as 2nd setter in team A, as soon as Zenya Startseva comes back, she will probably go back to team B or rest. Efmiova is just an awful setter, especially her reverse sets are a big joke, I saw many times Obmochaeva and Malykh having hard times to hit the balls when Efimova is setting.

I hope to see Pisarenko over Scherban and Isaeva over Biryukova. Two Dashas would deserve that.

Scherban is injured anyway, she can't play as OH, Marichev says that they can use her as libero I think Pisarenko will be in the team and Bavykina probably too, considering Pasynkova's health problems and the fact that Kosheleva will definitely miss this WGP althogether. With Shlyakhovaya still suffering from knee injury I think it would be a good choise to call Zaryazhko, she did improve during EG. Biryukova's level is way off international games so far.

Quote from Emil

What kind of an injury does Scherban have? If she's injuried and Marichev is aware of that, why doesn't he take a real libero? I know Kryuchkova is taking a break but there should be some other ones, like Ksenia Kravchenko.

Pasynkova still has problems? Is that her shoulder again?

Regarding the roster - I'm pretty sure Bavykina and Pisarenko will be playing WGP, but not Isaeva She's not even in the roster...

it's a shoulder injury both for Scerban and Pasynkova. Pasynkova is recovering, I hope she'll be able to play. Scerban won't and whoever thought of using her as a libero - I'm shocked, that's why are there)) Marichev says she'll work more on her reception and this would help her during the club season. I don't know, it's beyond my understanding.

Quote from Emil

Regarding the roster - I'm pretty sure Bavykina and Pisarenko will be playing WGP, but not Isaeva She's not even in the roster...

I'd still prefer Malykh over Isaeva. I hope she'll get her chance to play more, I think without Kosheleva Russian team doesn't have any realistic chances to achieve the finals so let the young ones play.

About Scherban as libero, when I first read it, I was shocked too, as I wrote here a couple of days ago. But I guess it's possible to understand what's going on Marichev's mind.

The problem is well known: lack of reliable options in reception. Pasynkova is made of crystal, Ilchenko is too young, Pisarenko is internationaly unproved. So, Marichev will test Scherbans's reception as much as possible in the GP, in the expectation that she'll be fully recovered to play as OH during the W Cup.

Another important point is that Marichev actually DOESN'T WANT to qualify for the final round of the GP. As he said in his last interview, he wants to emulate the 2013 schema: play less and traine more.

Well, I don't know if it will work, but, given the circumstances, it at least make some sense.

One thing is certain though: if Kosheleva isn't fully recovered to play the World Cup, than forget it.

Ilchenko defensive OH?

I can't wait to see how the team does. They have a few injuries so some top players aren't there, but Kosheleva should be fine after the first round, she had a concussion and should be recovered by then. She will lack match fitness though.

I am interested in seeing how Ilchenko does against bigger competition, she impressed me in the Yelsin Cup. Obmochaeva is on form and has been aall season.

WGP isn't important this year really unless you get a straight olympic berth if you win it. so I am fine with trying out other players. Scherban as libero is a head scratcher, Russia needs some good liberos besides Malova.

Thanks for the list, I hope they do better at the Universiade than how they've been doing.

Judging from the other teams' rosters, I think Russia has a good chance of qualifying in the Final Round (yes, even without Kosheleva). Brazil is missing some important players (Thasia, Sheilla) and the only other strong teams with a somewhat complete roster is USA & Japan.This Russian team is almost the same team that competed in last year's WGP (which they finished with bronze, and if Koshe recovers in time, they have a good chance to medal).

On a side note, besides the glaring weakness in reception, the other missing element in russia's game for years has been their serve. For such a physical team, you would expect Russia to be a powerful serving team, but the reality is the opposite. How I miss the rocket serves of Godina (if ever russia produces that kind of player again) or even Sheshenina's jump serves. Imagine Russia serving like the USA team, the team will be surely harder to beat. I can't even think a good server in current NT..

Quote from inc0gnito

Judging from the other teams' rosters, I think Russia has a good chance of qualifying in the Final Round (yes, even without Kosheleva). Brazil is missing some important players (Thasia, Sheilla) and the only other strong teams with a somewhat complete roster is USA & Japan.This Russian team is almost the same team that competed in last year's WGP (which they finished with bronze, and if Koshe recovers in time, they have a good chance to medal).

On a side note, besides the glaring weakness in reception, the other missing element in russia's game for years has been their serve. For such a physical team, you would expect Russia to be a powerful serving team, but the reality is the opposite. How I miss the rocket serves of Godina (if ever russia produces that kind of player again) or even Sheshenina's jump serves. Imagine Russia serving like the USA team, the team will be surely harder to beat. I can't even think a good server in current NT..

Yes I agree their serve is not so good, but they sure have good servers.. Pasynkova, Startseva are their best servers IMO.. Other players with a good serve are Podskalnaya, Fetisova (although to me it looks like an easy serve, opponents receive it quite hard), Malkova

Quote from USAvolleyfan

Yes I agree their serve is not so good, but they sure have good servers.. Pasynkova, Startseva are their best servers IMO.. Other players with a good serve are Podskalnaya, Fetisova (although to me it looks like an easy serve, opponents receive it quite hard), Malkova

Oh I forgot about Fetisova, you are right if you look at her serve it seems very ordinary (it's not even a running float serve), but the opposing team has always a difficult time receiving her serves But as a whole, they are nothing compared to strong serving teams such as USA, Turkey..