Russian NT 2016

It's very bad news for Russia if Kosheleva is out of Ankara or even not at her 100%.

Quote from Ryu Takamiya

According to facebook of RUSSIAN VOLLEYBALL WOMEN, Kosheleva and Lyubushkina were injured during the friendly match
I hope they are recovering soon.

Kosheleva is a big loss. Lybushkina not really. Russia needs better MB's

Lyubushkina will be a big loss (if she's really out, that is) if Efimova at point needs to enter the court.
This player selection might really come to bite them in the ass in the end.

I agree and I said it before, as long as Fetisova and Zaryazhko are alright Marichev will get away with any choice for back-ups, but as soon as someone else needs to enter the court for whatever reason his choice could backfire. And I don't understand all the hate towards Lyubushkina, I think she's a good player. Surely not a Thaisa or a Foluke, but for Russian MB standards she is good.

If Kosheleva really needs to sit out or play handicapped, it means Goncharova will have to attack around 50 balls in every game, and in a tournament with 5 matches in 6 days she will have to be in her best shape to do that efficiently until the end. If I were Marichev I would probably try to rest her whenever possible in the preliminaries...but then, all this is hypothetical until we know any details about Kosheleva's health.

Russia lost in the second friendly against Volero Zurich in straight sets: 17-25, 24-26, 19-25. I do not know anything about the lineups for either team.

I read on a Russian website that Marichev said that he was going to play the 2nd match with the bench players, and that the team was having problems with reception in the 1st match. No word about the injuries...

Oh, and he said that Orlova and Podskalnaya played very well in the 1st match because they were motivated to show what they're capable of because of being out of NT for now About Efimova he says that she is young and has little experience but he expects her to be very good in the future...how contradictory to take on the one hand a player who is not good yet and on the other hand one who isn't good anymore

Quote from rodscanhoto

Any link? Stats, photos?

This is the article about reception: http://rsport.ru/volleyball/20151228/887490056.html

And this the one about Orlova and Podskalnaya: http://rsport.ru/volleyball/20151228/887488468.html

If Kosheleva cannot help the team, the starting spikers will be

1. Shcherban-Shashkova/Ilchenko OHs and Obmochaeva as OPP
2. Obmochaeva-Shcherban OHs and Malykh as OPP

Compared to the 2nd choice, the 1st one is safe and stable but Obmochaeva has to attack too many balls with this line-up.
The 2nd one means they try 2 receivers system again. Malykh can help Obmochaeva on attacking but it's risky on reception and digging.

About Lyubushkina, I also like her style and she deserves 12 spots IMO.

Quote from Matthias

I agree and I said it before, as long as Fetisova and Zaryazhko are alright Marichev will get away with any choice for back-ups, but as soon as someone else needs to enter the court for whatever reason his choice could backfire. And I don't understand all the hate towards Lyubushkina, I think she's a good player. Surely not a Thaisa or a Foluke, but for Russian MB standards she is good.

She's not a bad player by any means. But IMO she really doesn't fit Russia's current system of utilizing strong blockers (and in a way, this can help reception) and Lyubushkina is terrible with blocking we all know that. And besides, both Fetisova and Zaryazkho are much better attacking in front of the setter and they haven't been so prolific with the slide since 2013 back when they had Morozova.

Quote from Matthias

If Kosheleva really needs to sit out or play handicapped, it means Goncharova will have to attack around 50 balls in every game, and in a tournament with 5 matches in 6 days she will have to be in her best shape to do that efficiently until the end. If I were Marichev I would probably try to rest her whenever possible in the preliminaries...but then, all this is hypothetical until we know any details about Kosheleva's health.

If indeed Russia is playing without Kosheleva, they cannot afford not to have Goncharova on court at all times as Malykh is not really someone who can pile up the points consistently. I'm thinking maybe Goncharova can play as OH2 and Malykh as OPP? But again this is all speculation at this point..

The problem with Goncharova as OH is that due to her goofy footwork she attacks much better from 2 than from 4, you can see for example in Moscow that they usually try a combination play with her when she has to attack from 4 in rotation 1. But since we don't hear anything about the injuries in press (yet?) I assume they are not too serious...

Quote from Matthias

The problem with Goncharova as OH is that due to her goofy footwork she attacks much better from 2 than from 4, you can see for example in Moscow that they usually try a combination play with her when she has to attack from 4 in rotation 1. But since we don't hear anything about the injuries in press (yet?) I assume they are not too serious...

I agree it almost seems "unnatural" when Goncharova attacks in position 4.. even in backrow she rarely hits outside 1. Hoping the injuries are not too serious, they still have almost a week to recover. With that said, the tournament gets more interesting if Russia plays without their full strength roster (just w/o Kosheleva really lol), anything can happen..

Quote from rodscanhoto

About de 2nd match

This is all I find about the 2nd match so far: http://rsport.ru/volleyball/20151229/887554969.html

After 3:0 for Volero the teams played two additional sets, Volero won 4th and Russia 5th (until 15 pts). Still no word about injured players...

I totally agree with Mattias, what's so wrong with Lyubushkina? She's been talked as if she was a terrible player after all. I think she's a solid team player. Simply better choice than an unhealthy Samoylenko or Orlova who's as slow as a turtle.

I wish a fast recovery for Tanya and Katya

http://www.worldofvolley.com/N…-fine-with-kosheleva.html
Kosheleva was playing, so looks like she's recovered. But the score of this friendly is really worrying.
But talking about Russia without Kosheleva - they've played in WGP finals without her and did really well I think. But Goncharova had a form of her carier so far back then.

Good to hear that she's ok, but...Russia's reception stats look terrible, and after all they did not play with the bench players, at least not the whole match...

Quote from Mony

Ah I see, regarding Efimova. What do you call decent for Orlova. It is also the Swiss League, how good and competitive is it?

The team that won the European Championship could be the ones that were called, providing they are all in good form.

Unfortunately there's no real competition for Volero in the Swiss league. Behind them there seem to be 4-5 clubs on a quite similar level battling for 2nd place, But you also have to keep in mind the financial side, with Volero operating maybe with 5-6?? times as much money as these other clubs. Results in the ongoing CEV and Challenge Cup have been really decent so far. I would guess that they are maybe comparable to clubs in the bottom third of the German Bundesliga, but it's hard to say.

Look how much fun some Russian players had in the 2nd match

Lyubushkina did not suit up yesterday, she was rested completely but should be OK for next week. Still, quite risky to take only 3 MBs under these circumstances. I wonder what's the purpose of having Hodunova in the roster...