2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League

  • She is currently recovering from a surgery she had last month.


    Diao Lin-yu are called by Jiangsu VC in order to participate in VTV Cup 2018 in Viet Nam. Before Week 3, she can't return NT. :wall:

    My favourite roster of Chinese (in 2022)
    male NT:
    S - Yu Yao-chen, Chen Lei-yang
    OP - Jiang Chuan, Dai Qing-yao
    OH - Zhang Jing-yin, Yu Yuan-tai, Liu Li-bin, Fu Hou-wen
    MB - Zhang Zhe-jia, Peng Shi-kun, Li Yong-zhen, Jiang Zhen-yang
    L - Yang Yi-ming, Yang Tian-yuan


    female NT:
    S - Yao Di, Diao Lin-yu
    OP - Gong Xiang-yu, Sun Xiao-xuan
    OH - Li Ying-ying, Wang Yi-fan, Wu Meng-jie, Zhuang Yu-shan
    MB - Yuan Xin-yue, Wang Yuan-yuan, Zheng Yi-xin, Liu Yu
    L - Ni Fei-fan, Xu Jia-nan


  • Thailand's time is coming. I have a good feeling about them, wouldn't be surprised if they do better than Japan and Korea in this tournament--although that might be saying more about Japan and Korea than Thailand.

  • I don’t think Tom would have been too much help in the past few years, what I don’t like about that situation was not that she wasn’t picked but the story that Karch treated her with absolutely zero respect.


    I think some of Karch’s coaching is stupid, e.g. bringing Thompson to the Olympics and his “deep breath” nonsense, but having delivered USA’s first WCH gold, I think he deserves some credit. They lost the OG semi, but would they if Foluke hadn’t got injured? And USA seem to be the best team at beating China in big tournaments (2014 WCH, 2015 WC, 2016 OG group stage), so maybe they could have done it again in the final.


    We will see if this faster tempo works but I have my doubts.

    Team USA was totally Team China's nightmare during the last Olympics circle :lol: , sweeping the latter at all major tournaments. But then it would lose to Russia or Serbia like in the World Cup and Olympics...

  • Considering the actual roster for first week of Belgium Yellow Tigers, the main weakness seems to be the middles: young and unexperienced Asterix players only. Also the libero I don't know; the OHs are okay IMHO (van Gestel, Herbotts and excellent receiver Guilliams), Kaja Grobelna is OPP as expected. Anyway, this will get hard not to go down to challenger competition for them I think.


    http://www.topvolleybelgium.be…or-china-en-japan-gekend/

    It's a bit disappointing to see Belgium's roaster, especially considering teams like Bulgaria and Azerbaijan who have much more exciting roasters (at least for me) could not even participate in the VNL.

  • How I see things shaping out in the Women's VNL:


    1. China: defending Olympic champions; best team in the world until proven otherwise. Loaded at every position. With Zhu Ting, I think they'll win comfortably; without Zhu, I still think they have a good chance of winning. Look for a breakout performance from the next big star in Women's volleyball- Li Ying-ying.


    2. Serbia: Olympic silver medalists; best team in Europe in my opinion. The loss of Ognjenovic hurts as she is still, for me, the best setter in the world. Big shoes to fill for Antonijevic, but she has experience. Brilliant dynamic duo of Boskovic & Mihajlovic; Rasic a question mark but plenty of depth at that position- Stevanovic, Veljkovic & Mina Popovic. Look for Bojana Milenkovic to have a good campaign and earn a transfer to Europe following this summer.


    3. Brazil: Very balanced at every position; led by Tandara who had a dominant season at Osasco. Natalia a bit of a question mark, but Gabi, Rosamaria & Drussyla are all quality OH's. Interested to see how Thaisa has recovered and if she can return to her old dominant form.


    4. USA: Good balance of new players and 2016 olympians; solid at every position except opposite..not sure if/where Kelly Murphy played this past season and Drews was quite weak @ Pomi.


    5.Netherlands: Basically same team and starters for the past few years. Led by Sloetjes, look for Plak to take a step forward this campaign. Dijkema had a very up and down season last year, her level of play may determine how far this team can go. Not having De Kruijf will hurt, hope to have her back for World Championships. Lots of interesting young players, namely Daalderop.


    6.Russia: team that is the biggest question mark of 2018 VNL. If Startseva, Goncharova and Kosheleva don't play it will leave a large void for new young players to step in. Excited to watch OPP Kotikova, one of best players from u20 championships last season. Still lots of familiar and world class players: Zaryazhko, Fetisova, Parubets, etc.


    7.Italy: I like this squad and I think Mazzanti is a terrific coach. Overall very young team, could be a real medal contender at Tokyo 2020. Led by Egonu;quality young setters in Cambi Malinov & Orro; L.Bosetti, Chirichella and Danesi quality players. Hope young OH Pietrini gets chance, think she is a future star.


    8.South Korea: This of course, is assuming that KYK plays the majority of the campaign. The same way she single-handedly led Shanghai to the finals of the Chinese league, I think she can do the same with her country. I like Park Jeong-Ah a lot and think she has improved quite a bit over the last year or so.


    9.Japan: Assuming Miyu Nagaoka is healthy and recovered, Japan should have a solid campaign. Great team play, fight for every point. Very awkward team to play against.



    10.Turkey: Really not sure what to expect from Turkey. Think its time to move on from Naz,Neslihan, Gozde and Eda and build around a new nucleus. Good young setters and blockers, but lack quality at OH and especially OPP.


    11.Germany: Decent team; nothing special. Led by Lippman.


    12.Thailand: Very unique playing style, young team that will probably reach their peak in a few years. Whether or not Nootsara plays is obviously a big question mark. Think its time for Ajcharaporn to move to Europe and take the next step in her professional career.


    13. Belgium: Lots of new faces and a bit of a transition period for Women's volleyball in Belgium. I love Brittney Herbots and think she is a star in the making. Led by Grobelna & Heyrman.


    14.Poland: Not having Wolosz or Skorupa really hurts as they lack a competent setter. Smarzek is very up and down, Medrzyk had a good campaign and Kakolewska is their best player overall.


    15. Dominican Republic: Powerful team but prone to a lot of mistakes. Not sure if Pena/Brayelin/De la Cruz will all play. If they do, DR could cause a few upsets.


    16. Argentina: Definitely weakest team of the group. Led by Nizetich & Acosta. Would have preferred if this spot was given to Azerbaijan or Bulgaria.

  • According to the photos from training, the "unofficial" roster of Week 1 will be:
    S - Yao Di, Ding Xia
    OP - Gong Xiang-yu, Yang Fang-xu
    OH - Liu Xiao-tong, Li Ying-ying, Zhang Yi-chan, Duan Fang
    MB - Yuan Xin-yue, Gao Yi, Wang Yuan-yuan, Hu Ming-yuan
    L - Lin Li, Meng Zi-xuan


    Zhu Ting (OH), Liu Yan-han (OH/OP), Yan Ni (MB) and Wang Meng-jie (L) will be the "audience".
    Zeng Chun-lei is said to go abroad to look for the new job and perhaps in Japan? It's only a rumor.

    My favourite roster of Chinese (in 2022)
    male NT:
    S - Yu Yao-chen, Chen Lei-yang
    OP - Jiang Chuan, Dai Qing-yao
    OH - Zhang Jing-yin, Yu Yuan-tai, Liu Li-bin, Fu Hou-wen
    MB - Zhang Zhe-jia, Peng Shi-kun, Li Yong-zhen, Jiang Zhen-yang
    L - Yang Yi-ming, Yang Tian-yuan


    female NT:
    S - Yao Di, Diao Lin-yu
    OP - Gong Xiang-yu, Sun Xiao-xuan
    OH - Li Ying-ying, Wang Yi-fan, Wu Meng-jie, Zhuang Yu-shan
    MB - Yuan Xin-yue, Wang Yuan-yuan, Zheng Yi-xin, Liu Yu
    L - Ni Fei-fan, Xu Jia-nan

    Edited once, last by tomen ().

  • German roster for the 1st weekend:


    S: Denise Hanke, Pia Kästner
    OPP: Louisa Lippmann, Kimberly Drewniok
    OH: Maren Fromm, Lena Stigrot, Hanna Orthmann, Jennifer Geerties, Jana-Franziska Poll
    MB: Jennifer Pettke, Lisa Gründing, Marie Schölzel
    L: Lenka Dürr, Anna Pogany


    No major surprises there. Pia Kästner gets the nod as backup setter this weekend over Gryka and Imoudu and will probably make her debut in NT.

  • Egonu also gets some rest or she has any physical problems? Or does Mazzanti generally rest the players who played A1 final for now?


  • Is Zhang Changning injuried or anything?