Germany NT 2015


    Final squad of Germany NT for Montreux


    S: Denise Hanke, Mareen Apitz
    Opps: Louisa Lippmann, Saskia Hippe
    MBs: Anja Brandt, Wiebke Silge, Marie Schölzel
    OHs: Laura Weihenmaier, Jennifer Geerties, Jana-Franziska Poll
    Libero: Lenka Duerr, Linda Dörendahl

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

    Edited once, last by Burak ().


    Very weak roster from Germany :white:

    Main players will join the training while the younger ones are in Montreux, after Montreux the team will be complete. I'm slightly shocked by seeing Jana Poll in the roster though :white:


    Jennifer Pettke has injured her hand so she can't play Montreux. It's not sure yet how bad it is...

    Pettke will be out 6 more weeks because of her injured hand, so she'll also miss European Games. I guess that settles that Brandt and Silge will be the main MBs for that tournament, the question is who will be 3rd?

    Judging from the official team photo ( https://scontent-fra3-1.xx.fbc…94510f7ce37e0&oe=55FF4441 ), 18 players are still with the team now:


    S: Weiss, Apitz, Hanke
    OPP: Kozuch, Lippmann, Hippe
    OH: Brinker, Geerties, Schaefer, Stigrot, Poll
    MB: Brandt, Silge, Schwertmann, Schölzel
    L: Dürr, Thomsen, Völker


    Laura Weihenmaier is not on the photo but I can't believe she has already been cut from the team, especially not when Poll is still there :what: Also Linda Dörendahl is not there though she did a decent job as reception sub in Montreux.

    Denise Hanke, Julia Schaefer, Marie Schölzel, Linda Dörendahl, Juliane Langgemach, Jana-Franziska Poll and Janine Völker practise in Schwerin with Riccardo Boieri while the rest of the team plays European Games. After EG there will be some changes, some players from EG roster will get a rest and some of those above will play the first week of WGP.

    My two cents about Germany's performance in EG (based on the games I watched, I missed some):


    Starting with the positive, Lenka Dürr showed that she is one of the best liberos in Europe. Solid reception and great defense, I think she was our best player in the tournament. Also Maren Brinker had a very good tournament, she still screws up real bad in defense sometimes but her reception has improved a lot and her attack is constantly on a good level, she really seems to have grown as player. Kozuch overall also played well, not outstanding but also never really bad.


    And now the weak points...where should I start? :whistle: I was disappointed with the setters, both had big problems with precision, which for Mareen Apitz is quite unusual. I still think Apitz should be first setter because I like her style of play more, and Weiss at the net is an invitation for the opponent's OHs to score free points against her "block". Then, our middles are just too weak. They're not really bad players in the sense that they make mistakes, but they're weak, especially when there are players like Rasic or Zaryazhko on the other side of the net. But then Silge is just 18 and has the potential to become a very good player, so I'm happy she gets to play all the time, and she does not play because she is young but because she already is the best MB we have in NT now. Another big problem is the 2nd OH position. Geerties receives well but her attack won't do, Weihenmaier has yet to prove her skills on international level and honestly I miss Heike Beier now. Actually I like the idea of using Hippe as 2nd OH, with some more practise her reception can be ok and she surely can do more in attack than Geerties.


    Looking at the German pools for WGP I am not very optimistic. They can beat DOM who will probably play with B team, then Thailand and maybe Belgium, but I expect them to lose all other matches, I see no way how they could reach final round which is Pedulla's goal. But I'll be glad to be taught better ;)

    German team has two weeks off now and then will start preparation for ECH. Jennifer Pettke has recovered from her injury and will join the team again.


    In a newspaper from Dresden today there was an article about Christiane Fürst. Pedulla talked to her about NT and wants her to join for the OQT in January. She won't play ECH for sure and will announce her decision about her possible return in some weeks.

    Matthias
    Winner of ECH goes in Rio ??
    FÜrst <3..they need her if fhey want to go in Rio.

    That's great. Fürst is definitely missed, although Silge is playing very well, I see her improvement match by match.


    Also great to see Pettke back, with her and Chris back(She hasn't decided yet but well, I think she will come back) Germany could use a wider roster for MB position. Fürst and Pettke as sliders, Silge and Brandt as MB2. I think Anja prefers slides but let's see.


    Hippe is worth mentioning, I thought she was still recovering her bad injury from 13-14 season and can't play full-time, but apparently she's in some good shape, perhaps she would make it to EC as Kozuch'a back-up. Lippmann wouldnt make the cut in that case unless she's counted as OH.


    I hope Apitz will be starter, I don't like Kathleen Weiss at all.

    According to an article from Münster, Leonie Schwertmann and Julia Schaefer are done with NT for this summer while Linda Dörendahl was called again for the upcoming camp.


    My guess for the invited players (no info from DVV yet) would be:


    S: Weiss, Apitz, Hanke
    OPP: Kozuch, Lippmann, Hippe (also OH)
    OH: Brinker, Geerties, Weihenmaier, Stigrot
    MB: Brandt, Silge, Pettke, Schölzel
    L: Dürr, Thomsen, Dörendahl


    There has been not a single word about Heike Beier from DVV this summer, she was in the wide roster for WGP on FIVB site but I have no idea whether she'll join for ECH or if she's out of NT this year. If the above roster is correct then 3 players will have to be cut before ECH, for sure one of them will be a setter (probably Hanke), the rest depends on Pedulla's preferences. If he wants to take a receiving substitute Dörendahl could make the roster, as "normal" liberos there should be Dürr and Thomsen. Maybe all of the OPPs will make the roster if Hippe will play OH and one of the other OHs will be cut...and I expect there will be only 3 MBs in ECH roster, Schölzel's performance was a big surprise but Pettke is more experienced.


    My guess for ECH roster:
    Weiss, Apitz
    Kozuch, Lippmann, Hippe
    Brinker, Geerties, Weihenmaier, Stigrot
    Brandt, Silge, Pettke or Schölzel depending on Pettke's shape
    Dürr, Thomsen

    17 players will start practise for ECH, a few already tomorrow, the rest will join over the next few days, on Sunday the team will be complete. Contrary to the article from Münster, Linda Dörendahl is not on the list, also Denise Hanke is out. Heike Beier joins the team and surprisingly also Berit Kauffeldt is there :what: I don't think she can add anything to the team but Pedulla will have his reasons for inviting her...


    Full list:


    S: Mareen Apitz, Kathleen Weiß
    OPP: Louisa Lippmann, Saskia Hippe, Margareta Kozuch
    OH: Laura Weihenmaier, Lena Stigrot, Maren Brinker, Jennifer Geerties, Heike Beier
    MB: Marie Schölzel, Jennifer Pettke, Berit Kauffeldt, Wiebke Silge, Anja Brandt
    L: Lisa Thomsen, Lenka Dürr


    So we can expect that one OPP, one OH and one MB will be cut for ECH.

    Berit Kauffeldt was so useless in Impel, I'm surprised that she's there :whistle:
    As we can see Beier only got more time for rest :wavy:


    it's hard to choose players to cut, especially OH

    Gold medal - World League 2013 Prediction Game
    Bronze medal - World League 2012 Prediction Game

    Linda Dörendahl announced that she decided to quit NT. She was not satisfied with the (lack of) chances she got from Pedulla because he used her as normal libero only in one match this summer and she doesn't accept the rule as reception substitute.

    :(


    Too bad for Linda, I would do the same if I were her though... so it means both Lenka and Lisa will make it to ECH without big competitions.