Serbia NT 2019

    Quote from Janko

    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.

    Quote from pope

    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.

    Quote from Janko

    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 :lol: 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. :aww: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

    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 :what:



    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.

    Quote from JoanaBG

    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.

    Goncharova simply can`t put herself in Maja`s shoes in order to judge her. Maja has not not played for Moscow her whole career, Maja is not Russsian, Maja is not not attached to the club, league and country like Goncha is.


    I don`t think what Maja did was "right" with Moscow, BUTTTTTTT at the same time Maja had to do what was, is and will be best for her. Playing in Turkey means less play, less travel, less stress...and when you are 35 and heading into the Olympic year.....u gotta do what is best for you.....Goncharova probably wish she had the balls to leave Moscow for Vakifbank....but she never did.

    Oh yeah, I remember that weird ass interview. :D I even think that's where she announced she was prolonging her contract, after listing all the things she didn't like about living in Russia :rolll:

    Also, a couple of months ago I saw her in a TV show/interview that was shot in her home town and it was obviously filmed in the end of May, because she was visiting her old high school and it was the last day of school for seniors. She was saying all the usual stuff about playing in the Russian league (long travels etc.) and how difficult it is, but that she managed to cope with it, so she decided to stay for another season.

    So she obviously planned to stay on for another season, even though she wasn't completely happy, and then something happened that made her change her mind. We'll probably never know what it was, but like I said, it was something personal.

    Now it will be interesting if Vakif and Moscow will meet in CL especially so if Maja will be playing expect drama for sure :lol:

    While I also do understand Goncha definitely, Maja is not 22 anymore... She really has to do what's best for her. In Turkey she has less travels, she's much closer to family, husband etc. and she can meetup with the Serbian girls quicker for Olympics preparations. She's already there in Istanbul literally with Terzic, Herself, Boskovic, Mihajlovic and her teammate Rasic. That's 4/6 + the coach.


    Moscow played well against their Turkish rivals VB last year and probably feel like just when they were getting there in CL and maybe finally be able to beat them Maja has been a 'traitor' and picked to go to VB out of all teams and they feel this was while she was in Moscow still probably. But as Joana said Maja already had some issues in Moscow before so we will probably never know the personal reasons but they were there and it was probably the icing on top of the cake for Maja to leave as she was already unhappy...


    We have to move on as Maja says :whistle: but I want to see Moscow x VB now indeed :box::white: I feel Goncha will be fire.

    if i were goncharova i wont speak to this kind of issue in the media. Hehe


    1st - volleyball fans have great regards to their idols. They love them because of the plays and not because of their attitude outside court.


    2nd - goncharova might be speaking true about this issue but one thing she should consider is, all volleyball players during their club season would rather go to a team that gives them less stress, more money and more time time with her family. And considering their age, volleyball players grab the most beneficial offers. Hence, their loyalty is not really with the team. It is money. And this is the politics of volleyball.


    3rd - she could have just speak this issue with the concerned party. She sounds like bitter with the departure of maja in their team.


    Moreso, all the best of luck to the two girls. I can't wait for them to fight against each other in court. Knowing that goncharova did this to garay in one of their match in the nt i think it was during the grand prix and goncharova was seen very rage to garay. It my memory serves me right this was after brazil defeated russia in the 2012 london olympics quarterfinals.

    Quote from beri

    I think the Ankara crowd is one of the best things that happened to volleyball recently tbh! Finally some passionate full halls in volleyball matches, showing not only basketball and football can do that. Such a revelation. It used to be more common back in the days.


    Ech was great in general, hopefully a new era in women's volleyball.

    New era of fans only.


    All in all the 2016 crowd is still between china brazil serbia and italy. Then russia and usa.