Germany - DVL 1. Bundesliga 2012/13

    Quote from Matthias

    There are many problems in Stuttgart nowadays: it turned out that they dissolved Schaus' contract to save money and not because she was injured (at least money was the main reason), then when Evelyn Delogu got injured they had no other choice than buying another libero, so now there is no money for a 3rd MB :thumbdown: Newspapers from Stuttgart write that their manager and their head coach have a rather bad relationship nowadays, probably because the management isn't able to provide the necessary money to allow the team to be successful. It will be very difficult to finish the season with just two MBs...


    Völker is not a learned libero, she always played OH in Youth/Junior, but it was quite clear that she'd never become a great OH at Senior level, so she started to play libero sometimes in 2009/10 season and Guidetti also used her as libero in NT in 2010. She certainly won't become an absolute top OH, but I'm also not sure if she has the potential to be a top player if she plays as libero...


    About the OHs, I think Ksenija Ivanovic is one of the strongest OHs in our league at the moment, maybe even the strongest, and Regina Burchardt with all her experience is a very valuable player too. Time will tell if Lousi Souza Ziegler and Anne Buijs after her injury will really be so much stronger than Wiesbaden's OHs, but as team I'm sure Schwerin is much better...


    Yes, it's a sad situation for Stuttgart. I read the same articles.


    Thanks for info about Völker. I didn't know that.


    About OHs: Ivanovic impressed me in some moments at Schwerin-Wiesbaden match..she has a very good jump and a lot of power. So I do appreciate her and she is near to the best years in her career (born 1986). I think Schwerin's OHs are better though. Burchardt is indeed really experienced. Though, I'm sad she didn't continue at the level she played a few years ago (when she was in German NT). Her level decreased in my opinion.

    Match report about yesterday's semifinal from VCW TV:



    Check out Erika Carvalho's save at 3'30 (slowmotion after the rally too) :white: :obey:
    Last season she was probably the worst libero in our league, but Wiesbaden kept her anyway (mainly because they couldn't afford a better one), she took German lessons in summer because last season communication was the main problem for her, and this season her performance has incredibly improved :thumbup:

    Congrats Wiesbaden :win: Micheli Tomazela Pissinato :flower:, she was always a good player in the Swiss League and now she has become a good player in the Bundesliga, too (i always look at her stats, hehehe). That's nice to see. I wish that someday maybe a Swiss player will do the same. ^^

    Veeery funny interview with Andi Vollmer and Regina Burchardt from VC Wiesbaden :lol: :lol: :lol: (Alex Waibl should watch and learn how to behave in interviews :P )
    Looks like the atmosphere in Wiesbaden's team is an important factor for their current success...


    Best players after half of regular season (I use FIVB standards, so some rankings are slightly different to the official DVL rankings)


    Best scorer:
    1. Vendula Merkova (Hamburg) 178 pts
    2. Lousi Souza Ziegler (Schwerin) 174 pts
    3. Hana Cutura (Münster) 169 pts


    Best server (aces per set):
    1. Mareike Hindriksen (Hamburg) 0,79
    2. Lora Kitipova (Stuttgart) 0,53
    3. Laura Weihenmaier (Aachen) 0,52


    Best spiker (%, minimum 100 attacks):
    1. Ivana Isailovic (Suhl) 64%
    2. Ashley Benson (Münster) 56%
    3. Anna Kalinovskaya (Suhl) 52%


    Best blocker (blocks per set):
    1. Rebecca Pavan (Köpenick) 0,79
    2. Kathy Radzuweit (Potsdam) 0,78
    3. Renata Benedito (Vilsbiburg) 0,75


    Best receiver (% perfect receptions, minimum 100 receptions):
    1. Julie Jasova (Hamburg) 44%
    2. Ines Bathen (Münster) 40%
    3. Linda Dörendahl (Münster) 39%


    MVP:
    1. Denise Hanke (5 Gold medals)
    2. Judith Pietersen (3 Gold, 1 Silver)
    2. Lonneke Sloetjes (3 Gold, 1 Silver)

    Congratulations to Wiesbaden. They are having a special year so far.


    However, they were extremely fortunate with their draw for German cup this year. They didnt have to defeat any team in the top 5 of Bundesliga to reach the finals.


    I think the German Cup needs to change to a seeded tournament to ensure that the teams playing for the championship truely earned it and are not there in large part because of the luck of the draw. It would make for a better tournamnet and definitely a better final.

    Quote from SoloBlock

    I think the German Cup needs to change to a seeded tournament to ensure that the teams playing for the championship truely earned it and are not there in large part because of the luck of the draw. It would make for a better tournamnet and definitely a better final.

    The idea of the Cup is being independent of the teams' performances in the league. Also teams from 2nd league (or even lower) qualify for the first round of Cup through regional Cup tournaments...of course it might be more interesting if it was like for example in Italy where the best 8 teams of the league go to Cup quarterfinal, but somehow I prefer the idea of the Cup being independent from league performance...


    Another report about Vilsbiburg-Schwerin: http://www.rfltv.de/mediathek/…_Schweriner_SC-10525.html
    I like Gallardo's attitude about the match :thumbup:


    Live matches (1 camera) this weekend:
    05.01.2013 17.30 CET Dresdner SC - VfB Suhl
    05.01.2013 19.00 CET Schweriner SC - VT Aurubis Hamburg


    Two derby matches, teams from the East against each other and teams from the North against each other. Probably Nicole Davis will play her first match, I'm curious to see what shape she is in...Hamburg was leading 2:0 against Schwerin at home in the beginning of the season but lost in the end, and the matches between those teams are always quite intense.
    Femke Stoltenborg has restarted setting training but she still is not allowed to play block and defense, maybe next week she can slowly start with that too. Hamburg's 2nd Opp Paulina Brys will probably be out for the whole season because of the shoulder surgery she had in October. For Dresden, Anne Matthes and Laura Heyrman will probably return soon, the other injured players need more time still...

    Well, also time for me to write something about the match Vilsbiburg-Schwerin. But first, i´d like to wish all of you a happy new year.
    Just like Lena and Guille have said in the interviews at first i was, of course, disappointed, too.
    Vilsbiburg was close, I think they have shown that they can keep up with Schwerin , but what Vilsbiburg was partially missing was the callousness.
    Vilsbiburg looked nervous to me, i think they wanted to be in the finals so bad and play "too good" for their fans, that they kinda cramped.
    Jana didn´t play well. She digged/received way too many balls which would have been out and would have meant a point for Vilsbiburg. Not that she´s one of the top players, but she can definitely play better. In my opinion, she has developed well, since she´s here. Lena didn´t play too well, also. There was no much variation in her settings. But you also have to say, that it was clear, there wouldn´t be many attacks from the middle by Vilsbiburg, because Lena and Norisha practiced together only a couple days.
    Also, the block was not good. Even though the stats say otherwise. In 2nd set, Schwerin made most of their points attacking longline from position 2, but Vilsbiburg was not able to "close the line".
    Although Vilsbiburg had its ups during the match (1st and 4th set) it seemed like they were kinda afraid of their own courage.
    But i think, this team is on the right way.

    Dresden's OH Frieda Thieme will now definitely be out for the rest of the season after her knee surgery.


    Münster's MB Ashley Benson broke a finger in training and will be out for about 3 weeks. Laura Dijkema suffered an ankle injury but luckily it's nothing serious and she will be able to play this weekend.

    Anyone hear of American MB, Brittney Brimmage, signing with Köpenick? Her agency lists her as signed but haven't seen any media report.

    Quote from Matthias

    There's no news about it here yet, but it would definitely make sense as the team has only 2 MBs at the moment...

    according to the FIVB she is signing in Kopenick

    REMINDER: Today, Dresden-Suhl (17.30) and Schwerin-Hamburg (19.00) will be on dvl-live.tv


    Köpenick still has to play without their starting OHs Dröger and Grohmann today, so Vilsbiburg will probably have an easy match.


    Here is a video with impressions from a training session of Dresden:


    I don't know how representative this is, but it seems to me that there is a lot of non-volleyball in this training :what: Of course the coordination stuff is very important for volleyball too, but do teams do that kind of stuff in every training??

    Nice video :win:


    The music at the end, to raise the self-esteem :lol:

    Suhl and Dresden both play with their backup setters, Pucarevic isn't even in the roster :S For Dresden, Heyrman and Matthes are in the roster today for the first time since their injuries, but they haven't been on court yet.
    Suhl's reception is a nightmare, but their new Brazilian Opp makes a good impression so far...same goes for Nicole Davis.