Russian NT 2016

And Obmochaeva still so hot

Quote from Matthias

I wonder what's the purpose of having Hodunova in the roster...

In the friendly matches she did serving duties/defense specialist.

Quote from kittosuni

In the friendly matches she did serving duties/defense specialist.

In my opinion there was no need to call Hodunova. Pasynkova has been playing with the NT the entire summer, and needless to say, has already the chemistry with the team for playing with them so long. Marichev is just strange sometimes with his choices.

Quote from inc0gnito

In my opinion there was no need to call Hodunova. Pasynkova has been playing with the NT the entire summer, and needless to say, has already the chemistry with the team for playing with them so long. Marichev is just strange sometimes with his choices.

One thing I like about Marichev is that he is willing to give chance to unknown players and develop them. It turned out well with Fetisova/Zarachko. Both Hodunova and Pasynkova are playing okish in their respective clubs so I dont think none of those two will make a huge impact to the team. My only concern is that he is bringing only 3 MB so hopefully no one will get injured. I think the success of the team will depend on how the 2nd OH will perform(passing&scoring).

Quote from inc0gnito

In my opinion there was no need to call Hodunova. Pasynkova has been playing with the NT the entire summer, and needless to say, has already the chemistry with the team for playing with them so long. Marichev is just strange sometimes with his choices.

Yep but Pasynkova isn't playing well, so really her or Hodunova are basically in the same boat at the moment. It doesn't matter neither would have started. MB's is my main problem, not sure about only 3 but the other MB's, I was thinking about aren't playing much for their clubs.

Quote from Mony

Yep but Pasynkova isn't playing well, so really her or Hodunova are basically in the same boat at the moment. It doesn't matter neither would have started. MB's is my main problem, not sure about only 3 but the other MB's, I was thinking about aren't playing much for their clubs

God forbid either one of Fetisova and Zaryazhko gets injured as Lyubushkina is also mildly injured. It's a pity Shlyakhovaya is also not injury free. Do you guys know why Iulya Morozova is not invited to NT? She seems reliable at the times she played back in her club and the team can count on her blocking skills.

So the qualifier is about to begin.

First, the roster. I find a pity that Ekaterina Enina didn't have her chance so far. IMHO she looks much more promissing than Ekaterina Efimova. Both have the same age and size, but Enina is much faster and a very good attacker, specialy on slide. And her blocking has developed a lot from last year. I guess now is too late for her, but I think she'll be a regular NT player in the post-Rio period.

Another surprise was Kriuchkova's absence. She's playing much better this season, closer to her 2013 shape, and not as useless as in 2014/2015. Besides, she's experienced and I don't see a better option to cover Malova than her. Is it a retaliation because she refused to be in the team last summer?

About Hodunova, though still unkown, she's a good player, very similar to Shcherban. I guess Marichev wants to test as many options to the 2º OH position as possible.

About reception. In the Euro, Russia played mainly with 2 receivers, but with Kosha and Goncha switching in the reception line sometimes. I guess the objective is quite simple: to prevent the servers to target Kosha. The funny thing is that this alternation doesn't follow the team rotation. For example, sometimes Goncha takes part in the reception even when she's on the net, and other times she doesn't. It seems that Marichev picks the receivers from case to case. It's weird, but worked. I'm just afraid that one time or another some team will know how to crack it.

Last but not least: does anybody knows how is Dianskaya? The last news about her was that she left Omichka due to an injury. I searched the social networks but couldn't find anything new. It's a pity that Dianskaya disapeared. She was playing quite well, and was prettier than ever.

Quote from russia women's volley fan

So the qualifier is about to begin.

First, the roster. I find a pity that Ekaterina Enina didn't have her chance so far. IMHO she looks much more promissing than Ekaterina Efimova. Both have the same age and size, but Enina is much faster and a very good attacker, specialy on slide. And her blocking has developed a lot from last year. I guess now is too late for her, but I think she'll be a regular NT player in the post-Rio period.

Another surprise was Kriuchkova's absence. She's playing much better this season, closer to her 2013 shape, and not as useless as in 2014/2015. Besides, she's experienced and I don't see a better option to cover Malova than her. Is it a retaliation because she refused to be in the team last summer?

About Hodunova, though still unkown, she's a good player, very similar to Shcherban. I guess Marichev wants to test as many options to the 2º OH position as possible.

About reception. In the Euro, Russia played mainly with 2 receivers, but with Kosha and Goncha switching in the reception line sometimes. I guess the objective is quite simple: to prevent the servers to target Kosha. The funny thing is that this alternation doesn't follow the team rotation. For example, sometimes Goncha takes part in the reception even when she's on the net, and other times she doesn't. It seems that Marichev picks the receivers from case to case. It's weird, but worked. I'm just afraid that one time or another some team will know how to crack it.

Last but not least: does anybody knows how is Dianskaya? The last news about her was that she left Omichka due to an injury. I searched the social networks but couldn't find anything new. It's a pity that Dianskaya disapeared. She was playing quite well, and was prettier than ever.

Display More

I am a huge fan of Dianskaya, and think that she deserved her place on the team more than Podskalnaya, Orlova, Efimova, Malkova.. However her last season in Krasnodar wasn't so good.. She was replaced by Podskalnaya or Krivets.. they all changed all the time.. Not only she wasn't blocking so good, but also her attacks were defended well. I have no info about her right now.

I just read this new thread for the first time and I see that the "Sokolova affair" is still hot.

Well, I have to confess that, in this regard, I changed my mind. Now I defend Lyuba's and Gamova's presence in Rio, first as replacement players.

The question is that Russia is in a transition period on their OH's - I expect to write more about it later. Remember that, till some years ago, Russia experienced the same situation with their MB's. They looked all average and Borodakova seemed eternal. But now there's a whole new crop of very promissing MB's. I hope the same thing will happen with the OH's in a few years.

Returning to Sokolova and Gamova, I think the main issue is that the pressure in Rio will be huge. Russia never won an olympic gold medal - only Soviet Union did - and we all know that neither Kosha or Goncha are the strongest mentally players around. So I guess that the mere presence of Lyuba and Katya will beneficial for the group, even if just off court.

So, my 12 player roster to Rio is this:

S: Kosyanenko - Startseva
OP: Goncha - Gamova
OH: Kosha - Shcherban - Sokolova
MB: Zaryazhko - Samoylenko - Fetisova
L: Malova - Kriuchkova

First line-up:
Kosyanenko - Goncha
Kosha - Shcherban
Zaryazhko - Samoylenko
Malova

A final word on Chaplina. Mathias mentioned her some pages above. Back in 2013, I also expected her to become the ideal Kosha partner. But after her move to Kazan, she hardly played. Now she just moved to Leningradka and she'll surely have a lot of time on court. I don't know if she'll have time to find her better game in time to be in Rio, but I think she can return to the NT in a near future. As I wrote above, I believe the most crucial work after Rio will be the transition in the OH position, and Chaplina is one of the candidates.

I agree with you, I don't like Malykh for now, at least to me she's not ready to play in such a great competition (assuming that Russia manages to qualify to Rio). To me Obmachaeva should be starting OPP if she shows the same shape she had this summer but her back up should be Gamova if Russia really wants something.

For the same reason I'd still take Sokolova: she won't jump and make 30 points as in the past but they need her stability in back row if Kosheleva starts to mess up or Shcherban is in a bad day!

According to a German volleyball photographer who met Sokolova many times in her career and became close to her, she will not play in the Olympics. She told him that her body isn't ready for a full preparation to such a tournament anymore and that the OQT final was her last match with NT.

With Russian athletes dropping like flies in the latest doping scandal, Maria Sharapova being the highest profile casualty, I sure hope volleyball will not be involved.

But with Maria everything is clear.

She only forgot open mail with list of the drugs in the end of 2015.. She took that medicine for 10 years for heart where She hadn't problems with heart..

Quote from Bartek

But with Maria everything is clear.

She only forgot open mail with list of the drugs in the end of 2015. . She took that medicine for 10 years for heart where She hadn't problems with heart..

For its prescribed use to treat heart problems, the normal course of medication runs 4 to 6 weeks. Not 10 years. In the 1980s Russian troops were given this drug to increase their stamina, and some 17% of all Russian athletes tested have this in their system. It is ludicrous to believe that 17% of Russian athletes have heart problems. It also seems unbelievable to me that Sharapova took this drug for a decade for "heart problems." I think it is much more plausible that, like many Russian athletes, she took this drug over such a long time for its stimulative effects.

Yes, she probably screwed up by not being aware that it was added to the banned list in 2016. Just like some others that are now coming to light. But that does not credibly explain why she used it in the first place.

Quote from Azvin

For its prescribed use to treat heart problems, the normal course of medication runs 4 to 6 weeks. Not 10 years. In the 1980s Russian troops were given this drug to increase their stamina, and some 17% of all Russian athletes tested have this in their system. It is ludicrous to believe that 17% of Russian athletes have heart problems. It also seems unbelievable to me that Sharapova took this drug for a decade for "heart problems." I think it is much more plausible that, like many Russian athletes, she took this drug over such a long time for its stimulative effects.

Yes, she probably screwed up by not being aware that it was added to the banned list in 2016. Just like some others that are now coming to light. But that does not credibly explain why she used it in the first place.

The drug is "anaerobic" AFAIC, sounds like a good thing to take after e.g. weights training or some kind of hypoxia. So stamina sounds like a serious overkill here, strength or perhaps recovery - yes. To me, it is a bit strange to read that a nominal metabolic inhibitor is classified as a performance enhancer. Secondly, I somehow doubt that Sharapova monitors those lists herself, so it wasn't her personal fault. Just take a look at Sharapova and think whether she may have an idea of what beta-oxidation of fatty acids is :). What is even more strange is that Sharapova is a de facto American athlete. Who could advise her to take meldonium?

I have two versions as for how this en-mass "coming out" happened: (i) five or six doctors, independently of each other, missed/ignored the WADA warning or (ii) the drug has a yet-to-be-discovered feature in its pharmacokinetics, some kind of depo or so. There is very little info.

With all the doping drama lately, do we know the extent of Kosheleva's ankle injury? I read some crazy rumors on some web forums that the real reason for her absence in domestic league is, yes I said it, possible meldonium intake? I think it's absurd, but not entirely implausible. I'm not playing devil's advocate, but imagine if that were the case, both men & women's NT! So now the million-dollar question is, does Netherlands get the slot to Rio?

Kosheleva admits to using meldonium in the past: http://www.worldofvolley.com/N…efore-they-banned-it.html