Serbia NT 2019

JoanaBG wrote:

I'm 100% sure, because I remember the discussion on this forum if she was boycotting the NT like Spasojević and Đerisilo were at the time. I believe she was on the wide roster, but didn't actually get to play.

Anyway, these are the players the Serbian Volleyball Federation credits with the GP '11 bronze:

ANA LAZAREVIĆ, JOVANA BRAKOČEVIĆ, SANJA MALAGURSKI, NATAŠA KRSMANOVIĆ, TIJANA MALEŠEVIĆ, BRIŽITKA MOLNAR, ANA ANTONIJEVIĆ, JOVANA VESOVIĆ, MAJA OGNJENOVIĆ, JELENA NIKOLIĆ, NAĐA NINKOVIĆ, MILENA RAŠIĆ, SUZANA ĆEBIĆ, SILVIJA POPOVIĆ

https://www.ossrb.org/selekcij…nja/svetski-gran-pri.html

So, the 14th player was Ana Lazarevic. She never once appeared on any of the official match reports in the final round, nor is she credited for it on her wiki entry. Thanks again. I'll edit the list (hopefully for the last time).

Bogdan123 wrote:

She definetly missed both of Wgp and Ech in the 2011. I checked every single match report from the Wgp 2011 and she did not on the list.

http://www.fivb.org/EN/volleyb…chInfoF.asp?Tourn=WGP2011

Yes, but if you study it further, you'll see that only 13 names are ever mentioned in those reports. That means one medal winner is left out. That was the (main) source of confusion in compiling this list.

Bogdan123 wrote:

That cometition(wgp 2011)is maybe favourite one from that era. I remember that we win Usa and China(i think 2 times-one in preliminary round and one 3-2 wins in final round). And at that competition, Malagurski shine on the OH possition(because Jelena Nikolic played just a final round). And after that horrible injury at World Cup against Korea. I cant forget that moment. That injury just marked her career in future.

It's my favourite tournament too! Rašić was playing like a monster, that summer was her big breakthrough. Brakočević on top of her game, Malagurski killing it on the OH position (as well as being able to substitute Brakočević as the OPP, as we saw later at ECh), Krsmanović playing the best and most consistent volleyball of her life, Molnar carrying the reception as well as being able to contribute in the attack, both setters doing a great job... Great memories They played amazing volleyball at that GP, even better than at ECh a couple of months later when they were just too nervous in front of their home crowd.

The problem with that particular roster is that it wasn't very deep, as Nikolić was injured and didn't play at all, although she was with the team and there were basically just two MBs, after Čitaković refused to play in the last moment and Ninković was too inexperienced at that point.

But with all of them healthy, Stefana's comeback and Brankica's addition in 2012, the team could have been a serious contender for an Olympic medal. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be.

You are right, for all of it. I just recently rewatched the quarterfinal, semifinal and final of 2011 ECh, and was just struck how good Krsmanović played, much better than I remembered. Even the quintessential "less bright star" of that generation, Molnar was holding really, really well (I can only imagine you are familiar with all the "Molnar plays, but Spasojević/Čitaković/Đerisilo are not good enough for Terzić" incessant complaints from that era.

Speaking of Krsmanovic, I wish there were more players like her. Silent, almost invisible but getting her job done so well. Mina Popovic seems to be that sort of a player.

Janko wrote:

I know, but you said that her first senior tournament was WC 2015, which is definitely not true, and in addition, this still does not answer whether she played in Final Round of WGP 2011 (14th player was either her or Stefana).

No. I said her first tournament was the World Cup, and by that I mean in 2011.. when she got to play quite a lot because both Malagurski and Brakocevic were injured

Maja is pretty much universally regarded as our best female volleyball player ever here in Serbia. Tijana is thought to have the potential to surpass her one day, but not this early in her career.

As for the list, it's pretty weird (and kinda funny) to think that Malesević is among 3 most decorated players ever. To make matters ever weirder, she achieved that by the time she was 27 (however, right now it doesn't seem she will increase her total any more). At the right place at the right time, perhaps (after all, her year of birth is right in the middle of our best generation ever)?

Another weird stat is that the likes of Živković and Buša have more medals (in some cases, more than twice as much) than the likes of Brakočević, Čitaković and Spasojević, who are considered much better players, and who are generally much better known, but that's the story of that 2006-2013 generation in a nutshell.

pope wrote:

Since Maja won the most

Should we consider her the best Serbian Female Volleyball Player of all time? Or Boskovic?

I don't thinks so that any Serbian volleyball player have won as much as Boskovic individual awards.

MVP, Best OPP with club and NT.

So Yes.

Janko wrote:

As for the list, it's pretty weird (and kinda funny) to think that Malesević is among 3 most decorated players ever. To make matters ever weirder, she achieved that by the time she was 27 (however, right now it doesn't seem she will increase her total any more). At the right place at the right time, perhaps (after all, her year of birth is right in the middle of our best generation ever)?

The funniest thing about her is that she holds the Serbian record for the most games played in Grand Prix. Almost twice as many as Brakočević, Veljković or Nikolić! Obviously, that record is not going to be broken anymore I guess it shows her status - she was always good enough to be taken to the competition, but never quite enough of a big deal to be spared in the less important matches. But it is strange how her career completely tanked just when it seemed she was finally coming into her own for real. Although, that stat can probably explain her mental burnout, to an extent at least. 77 games over 7 editions of Grand Prix is A LOT of travelling, and that's even before you start taking into account everything else she played at the time.

Speaking of Čitaković, her ill-fated comeback in 2011 left such a bad taste for me. She basically threw a hissy fit and left the team because she wasn't going to be a starter over Rašić and Krsmanović. I mean, it's obviously not something she actually said, but it was perfectly clear what happened and I'll never forget her "I don't know what I want, but I know what I don't want" line. It only contributed to the horrible atmosphere around the women's volleyball team in the Serbian public at the time (and in hindsight started this awful trend that Antonijević, Brakočević and now possibly Stevanović followed), as most people enjoyed bitching about Terzić more than actually watching the sport. I was so glad when the girls responded to it by playing brilliantly and winning two medals that year, shutting everyone's mouths.

And then of course the disaster of 2012 struck and we were back to square one.

OMG, you are so right that she set a precedent in that! I never thought of it that way. I mean, I obviously knew that that was what basically happened, but it never registered for me that she was the first to quit on the team because of not wanting to be a reserve to anybody. Such a sad legacy for a player who was a long-standing captain of the team, and a captain when our NT first broke through on the world stage (and for a woman who honestly seems to live and breathe for volleyball, and whose dedication to it is only matched by Maja among all the 2006-2008 players).

In fact, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that Vesna served as a direct inspiration for at least Antonijevic, since it was after that 2011 when the latter decided to simply not show up whenever Maja was playing. Some of those years can be accounted for by her injuries, but not all. Not even half, despite the benefit of the doubt she was given by most people in this country (it was only after 2017 that it became perfectly obvious why she only ever played in that year post-2011).

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4DSN3LleE5

Volleyball Federation of Serbia has been in Italy for the past few days. They are making interviews with NT players. For now, they visited Kovacevic, Lisinac, Krsmanovic and Stankovic and right now they are in Scandicci. They posted a picture with Stevanovic, so we might finally hear something from her, and if we don't it's unlikely we will see her in Tokyo. I'm not sure when will they post the interviews

Why Stankovic? It's not like he's gonna play for NT

Padar wrote:

Why Stankovic? It's not like he's gonna play for NT

He won't, but he is playing for the same club as Krsmanovic

So I found this interview with Maja on WoV

Your former teammate Nataliya Goncharova called your move as treason.

“I am sorry if she sees it in that way. I can’t say anything bad about her, we spent a lot of time together. On the other hand, I understand her, she got used to the Russian league, 8-hour flights and everything that is physically demanding. I am sorry if I made her feel that way but we have to move on,” says Maja Ognjenovic for WorldofVolley.

I'm a bit surprised Goncha said that if the interview is to be believed. I thought she and Maja were, not best friends, of course. but they were pretty close in the court sometimes even hugging each other

Source: https://worldofvolley.com/Late…thing-all-over-again.html

Goncha did say that:

When I found out that Maja was leaving, I became really upset. It was the end of the season and I realized it would be difficult for Dinamo to find a replacement. The club would need to buy a new player from a different team and it wasn't certain anyone would agree to make a transfer. But we're all different people. I would never do what Maja did. My conscience wouldn't allow me. But, she decided to go her own way. I think her act could be called a real betrayal.

https://rsport.ria.ru/20191008/1559549352.html

Honestly, I don't really buy what Maja's saying in that interview. Something must have definitely happened between her and Dinamo, as she had already decided to extend the contract and then changed her mind literally overnight. Whatever her reasons were, and even if they were completely justified, her team mates must have been taken aback by it, and you can't really blame them.

She hinted a couple of times in the Serbian media that she had "personal reasons" for leaving Moscow. If I'm to speculate, I think she was worried her marriage would suffer too much being separated from her husband for so long.

JoanaBG wrote:

Goncha did say that, and that she was very upset when she found out about Maja's decision

https://rsport.ria.ru/20191008/1559549352.html

Honestly, I don't really buy what Maja's saying in that interview. Something must have definitely happened between her and Dinamo, as she had already decided to extend the contract and then changed her mind literally overnight. Whatever her reasons were, and even if they were completely justified, her team mates must have been taken aback by it, and you can't really blame them.

She hinted a couple of times in the Serbian media that she had "personal reasons" for leaving Moscow. If I'm to speculate, I think she was worried her marriage would suffer too much being separated from her husband for so long.

I found it odd at the time because she’d just done that interview where she trashed the coach and the travel and was kinda shady to her teammates. It didn’t seem like she was happy at all judging from that but then the next thing we heard was she signed a new contract. I agree something happened but maybe it was already building from before she signed the contract. It’s all very weird.