2014 FIVB World Championship - Italy - 9/23

    This is the first bronze medal for this amazing group of players which started playing together in 2003 (Jaqueline, Sheilla, Fabiana...) adding time by time some new players (Thaisa, Camila Brait, Fe Garay, Dani Lins). They always got at least the final in every tournament they played until this WCH. Respect. :rose: :obey:

    Quote from kondzio

    Thaisa for overall blocking performance - ok, she was invisible yesterday, but in some matches she was just a wall ^^

    ok, but the awards are getting mostly for semifinal and final performance, no? and there Christa was a wall and Yuan had big spike % (I didnt see the stats, only visual) :)

    FIVB should introduce Best Young Player Award:


    Best Young OH: Zhu Ting and Gabi
    Best Young MB: Yuan Xinyue and Chirichela
    Best Young OPP: Diouf
    Best Young Setter: Haruka Miyashita
    Best Young Libero: Tsutsui

    Quote from Ttom

    ok, but the awards are getting mostly for semifinal and final performance, no? and there Christa was a wall and Yuan had big spike % (I didnt see the stats, only visual) :)

    Well, in Male's WCH awards were exactly like rankings after whole tournament, not only for finals :wavy:

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

    FIVB best OH award are so biased to attack IMO, they should respect fatastic players like Jaque, Del Core and Hui Ruoqi more.

    Quote from kondzio

    Well, in Male's WCH awards were exactly like rankings after whole tournament, not only for finals :wavy:

    ok ok :lol: :)

    Quote from kondzio

    Well, in Male's WCH awards were exactly like rankings after whole tournament, not only for finals :wavy:


    Yes Thaisa and Yang Jungjing lead in Best Block ranking, Zhu Ting and Kim Hill lead in Best Spiker

    Quote from MadeinChina

    FIVB best OH award are so biased to attack IMO, they should respect fatastic players like Jaque, Del Core and Hui Ruoqi more.



    Totally agree. And I guess that's why some people on here cant imagine Sheila being a best opposite - because she doesnt function like other opposite players - shes just there to stabilise play for Brazil (even though I agree that there are a lot of times when she is needed to be an attacking force - also she doesnt always play her best these days throughout the tournament, only in clutch situations.)


    I guess thats what Murillo got his award for at the mens Wch.....


    I definitely would have gone for Del Core as second outside -maybe not Jaque, because of that total meltdown in the semi....



    Anyhow, I am yet to come across a set of best player awards which everyone agrees totally..

    Congrats USA
    Loved the match, China really raised their level in that third set and the final set was pretty amazing, also considering the mutual meltdowns.


    SO, now the WCH has ended on the womens' side as well: how do you rate it?


    I think: gamewise the level wasn't the greatest even though the level got higher in the last few days and drama increased as well
    Organization: i have to say it was great IMO; often packed crowds, great atmosphere, even the first rounds had good audiences and all seemed to be alright.
    Congrats Italy.

    "they are emotonally fragile" yeah yeah a team who got 50-3 and lose the 54th game is mentally fragile while a team who is 42-11 but got lucky in the next 2 games is clutch oh the genius of the reasoning :lol:

    We finally won a big one :)


    After a whole bunch of silvers, it's nice to see Team USA finally pull through and get their names in the record books.


    Dietzen and Akiradewo are still not 100% but their 85% is better than most team's 100%. Kim Hill had the tournament of her career to date and she was passing well and just contacting the ball at such a high point that blocks and defenses couldn't defend against her. I hope she's able to carry this performance into her professional season. Glass' has solidified her position as starter and I don't anticipate that changing through the OG, barring injury. While Murphy is certainly a capable OPP in system, it's a very weak rotation for the USA when she's attacking from position 4. I really hope that Hooker can get her personal life in order and potentially join the group as I think in top shape she exceeds Murphy.


    Congrats USA and to the other medalists!

    i feel bad for them, but ITA was really not that strong of a team coming into these WCh., except for the fact that they were playing at home, and who knows what they could do playing at home (see POL men). but this team was a mishmash of players; in the last few years, they had tried out a lot of young players (remember tirozzi, gennari, bertone, fiorin, sorokaite? etc. who played in various tournaments last year -- yeltsin, montreux, alassio cup) and then throwing some of them (diouf, chirichella) together with some returning veterans. but they had not been playing a long time as a team, so who knows how they would gel together or perform under pressure against tough opponents? i guess that tactic backfired and i bet if they were not at home, they might not even have made to the final 6.


    i haven't followed VB every year attentively, but i was just thinking, has ITA in the last few years reached the level of their 2008 team? that team unfort. met the US in the QF in beijing due to the weird draw system (2nd vs 2nd; 3rd vs 3rd) and they lost a tough 5 set match; maybe they would have made the final four then if the draw had been different. that seemed like the highest level of ITA in the last few years (notwithstanding recent WCup wins).


    btw did signorile play at all? don't recall seeing her at all on court.

    The tournament was not as exciting as the men's tournament overall, which had a lot of upsets.


    First Round Highlights:
    Dominican Rep with a perfect record, not winning the group and lots of their matches in 5 sets
    Japan's Hybrid 6 was not ready for Azerbaijan
    Germany blowing out Croatia in one set 25-9 and losing in 5, while outscoring them by 14 points
    Turkey without Neslihan Demir is not as good
    USA beats Russia in an epicly long 4 set match


    Second Round Highlights:
    Dominican Republic advances to 3rd Round
    Japan is shown to be much worse than expected
    Serbia not winning a set against US and Russia, and not advancing when they were in the 3rd spot


    Third Round & Final 4 Highlights:
    China coming back from 2-0 deficit against Dominican Republic, Bethania de la Pena with 39 in a loss
    USA defeating Russia 3-1 after another collapse
    USA beating Brazil 3-0 to reach the final
    China beating Italy 3-1 to reach the final, Ting Zhu with 32 in the win
    USA winning their first title on the women's side.


    5 of the Top 6 teams according to the FIVB World Ranking were in the Third Round, so this was kind of expected. Not the final result but the teams playing for the matches to get medals.


    The FIVB needs to do things better though.
    The video challenge system was different for this tournament than for the men's tournament. IT NEEDS TO BE THE SAME. Nothing was better than the Russian coach in the USA match in the third round going, "I want the video challenge for the touch of the ball." And he could not challenge the call. Can't challenge foot fault at the 3 meter line, but you can on the serve? It make not one bit of sense.
    Get rid of the the third round. Have the top 4 teams from each group in the second round go to quarterfinals.
    Add more break days. We all complained about the number of matches. In the past it was 11, now 13. 13 is too much. If we did quarterfinals, then it would be 12. There were basically no days off (yes teams got 1 day, but Italy and Brazil got 3 days in a row) in the last round and semis/finals. The quarterfinals would allow 1 day off between semifinals and finals.
    Change the seeding procedure for the tournament. Some pools were much stronger than others.
    Have the 2nd round be 4 groups of 4, with the results from the 1st round not counting. Teams have everything to play for. On the final day of the 2nd round, only 1 spot was left and it was a head-to-head match, all of the other matches were basically meaningless.
    Have the final roster be 14, not 12 + you pay for the other 2. The Dominican Republic only brought 12 and with an injury were down to 11. Everyone should have the same number of players on their roster, so teams do not have a "numerical" advantage. Maybe you only dress 12 for the match.
    Stagger the match start times to encourage TV with the ability to show other matches. Pool A: starts at 1:30, Pool B: 1:38, Pool C: 1:45 and Pool D: 1:52. By doing this TV can switch to other matches during set breaks to show updates.

    Quote from MadeinChina

    FIVB should introduce Best Young Player Award:


    Best Young OH: Zhu Ting and Gabi
    Best Young MB: Yuan Xinyue and Chirichela
    Best Young OPP: Diouf
    Best Young Setter: Haruka Miyashita
    Best Young Libero: Tsutsui


    A group of young players is not necessary, and i doubt whether it shows the competitive teamwork to gether these girls together.
    Miyashita was not stable for some crucial moments, but she is a potential with bright future indeed. MBs need a precise and effective Setter, Zhu and Gabi's reception is not reliable also, but obviously Zhu Ting is much better than Gabriela Guimareas. Diouf was good in the last two matches but with no wins.


    i think for the new comer, to select ONE PLAYER with the most distinct performance makes sense, i name Kim Hill, but she has got MVP already, then shall be Yuan Xinyue from China or Diouf from Italy.

    i may not be the tallest,
    the fastest, or the strongest,
    but at least i can do one thing better than anyone else,
    to be me...

    for me, WCH Italy 2014 is a great one, and we see USA and China making their own breakthroughs, especially for the USA to have a historic day.
    all the best to USA as always, China, now that young players get more confidence, i look forward to big breakthrough for China Volleyball.
    Both teams are young with the taleted, i believe US and China will make more miracles during a relatively long future (we'll see in WC and OG)


    Brasil is still the most competitive one, but always disappointing us when regarded as the favourite. i expect more teams could promote and get close to the level of Brasil.


    We may miss Italy for some time after the veterans leave.

    i may not be the tallest,
    the fastest, or the strongest,
    but at least i can do one thing better than anyone else,
    to be me...