Dutch NT 2021

    Quote from VolleyOrange

    Is Bologna the airport all teams used to go to Rimini? Dijkema posted on her IG story that she was going to travel unexpectedly and the next update was in Bologna... is she going to VNL after all?

    Yes. I read in one of the VNL press releases that if you are coming into Rimini (after the bubble had started), you had to fly to Bologna.

    I thought nobody is allowed to join a tean before the fifth of June, but she says "unexpected". That indeed makes me wonder if she is going to join the team:/ It could be logical if indeed something happened to one of Bongaerts or van Aalen, because that would leave the Dutch team with only one setter...

    Also I liked the game by the Dutch today. Good to see Baijens and Timmerman doing good on court. If they keep developing like this, the Netherlands has nothing to worry about when it comes to the middle blocker positions. After De Kruif's departure, there will still be Belien, Lohuis, Timmerman, Baijens and also Korevaar and De Zwart.


    I'm very impressed with Dambrink. I thought she was 1.7something in height but she's actually 186cm already. Being 17 years old and able to play these VNL games is great. Right now she lacks power especially in serve but she's definitely a great prospect

    Quote from VolleyOrange

    Also I liked the game by the Dutch today. Good to see Baijens and Timmerman doing good on court. If they keep developing like this, the Netherlands has nothing to worry about when it comes to the middle blocker positions. After De Kruif's departure, there will still be Belien, Lohuis, Timmerman, Baijens and also Korevaar and De Zwart.


    I'm very impressed with Dambrink. I thought she was 1.7something in height but she's actually 186cm already. Being 17 years old and able to play these VNL games is great. Right now she lacks power especially in serve but she's definitely a great prospect

    Agree with you!

    Although I would like to see de Kruijf return for the big tournaments like ECH and WCH, because Timmerman and Baijens still lack experience and make some unforced errors, especially in attack. I liked Selinger changed Timmerman and Baijens from position after the first set. Baijens is the better slide attacker, so Bongaerts had an extra option in attack. Bongaerts overall distributed very well! Daalderop clearly our best and most consist player at the moment:heart:Reception is the weakest point, so I'm curious how they will perform against a strong serving team....

    Also about Dambrink I 100% agree! She still lacks some offensive power, but only 17 years so a lot time to become stronger. On the other hand her defense is pretty sollid for a opposite :) Shame she has to leave VNL early because of WCH U20. Next to that I think it's a pitty she choose to join project 2022. IMO she is ready to play in German league and there she would have developed more as a player.

    Quote from VolleyOrange

    Is Bologna the airport all teams used to go to Rimini? Dijkema posted on her IG story that she was going to travel unexpectedly and the next update was in Bologna... is she going to VNL after all?

    yes, the substitutes must go through the bologna airport to Rimini.

    Dijkema is in het NT jersey and still no official news about her arrival. Being in NT jersey means she's not there to sign any contract for a new club. The only other thing I can think of is that is for a sponsor activity like Mizuno or something but that would be very strange

    Just finished watching the match between Russia and the Netherlands. Overall I'm quite satisfied about the performance the team showed so far^^ Ofcourse it's only just the beginning of the tournament and they haven't faced the best opponents, but still they perform better than expected!

    I like the way Buijs is fulfilling her role as captain of the team. She seems to have good influence on the youngsters. Also her performance on the court is decent. She is attacking better than she did in Brazil last season. Still she can be shaky in reception, but I think that's something we could expected with a receiving line-up with Buijs, Daalderop and Schoot. Although they are doing a decent job in serve receive so far. Schoot also doing a good job as one of the veterans! She didn't impress me during the friendly match, but is playing steady in defense, setting and reception. Daalderop showing her potential so far with a stable performance and leading the way in offense. Bongaerts is distributing the ball very well, involving all her players as much as possible. I like her connection with Baijens a lot! This is also reflected in the statistics and she is at the top of the setters ranking:thumbup: Dambrink doing a nice job despite her age and inexperience. She is still a bit setter dependent, because she has difficulties scoring against a strong block in front of her. She will leave halfway because she has to make her school exams:D Curious how they will fill in the opposite position after she leaves, because Plak (and Lohuis) is very likely not to play at all this VNL:/

    Baijens has made the biggest impression on me so far, she really plays mature both in attack and block! Schwerin is very lucky they signed her! Timmerman has some ups and downs, but she has showed her potential only needs to become more stable.

    One thing to improve on is really their service mistakes... Especially Baijens and Timmerman:saint: Another thing is they shouldn't hand out large series of points, especially at the end of the set. This has always been an issue for the Dutch team BTW... Also I hope Selinger will take a look at his bench earlier when someone isn't playing well.

    i was excited when they announced the coach

    It's early but a good start

    Idk why he had many people disliking him

    I'm starting to think Netherlands will actually making it to final 4:white:

    Very good game again today, now being 4th in the standings. Daalderop was very convincing with 22 points. Good to see that they can also win without Buijs (or other OH, Jasper in this match) scoring 20+ points. This due to stable performance of Timmerman-Lohuis duo. Bongaerts is distributing the balls very well, Schoot is a great asset with her experience and performance. M. Jasper surprised me, she looks very fit and powerful and her defense is not less than a good libero.


    Next week Dambrink will leave and I'm wondering who Selinger is gonna use as opposite. It's not gonna be Meijers as she will leave also. That leaves Plak and Scholten as opposite. I'm very curious about Scholten, I hope she can surprise us all just like Dambrink. Plak looked powerful but only played a couple of points so I doubt she suddenly is gonna play full matches from next week on. Or Oude Luttikhuis will be an opposite but I think not. Wouldn't use her either. She had a lot of chances in the last 6 years but never showed she should be the next 1st choice OH. Libero Reesink will join too but I would prefer to see Knip more instead of her.


    Making it to final 4 would be very surprising to me. Of course it's not a young team like Serbia or Italy, but being 4th with two inexperienced NT MB's (Baijens - Timmerman) + a 17 years old opposite is a great and to me unexpected achievement. Obviously Schoot, Buijs and Daalderop are a big part of the success. Now that they're this far they should aim for top 4 imo and not play with only the very young players. Being in final 4 will increase confidence after some bad last years with Morrison/Caprara. In WCH '22 I hope to see a new team with the level of the Dutch 2015-2018 era. And so far it's looking good, let's continue this to European Championship!

    For me, Bongaerts and Schoot are the two players who have the biggest share in the success so far!

    Bongaerts is distributing the ball very well! Also she is showing real leadership. Her attitude on court is really pleasant to see:) For me she should be the future captain of the Dutch NT:rose:

    As for Schoot, I think I have never seen her play this good!:super: Great defensive work and good out of system setting! Also in reception she is really stable so far, there were her reception isn't her strongest point usually^^


    Not sure if they are going to make it to the final 4, but hope they can keep performing at this level!:win:

    Quote from Let's go orange

    For me, Bongaerts and Schoot are the two players who have the biggest share in the success so far!

    Bongaerts is distributing the ball very well! Also she is showing real leadership. Her attitude on court is really pleasant to see:) For me she should be the future captain of the Dutch NT:rose:

    As for Schoot, I think I have never seen her play this good!:super: Great defensive work and good out of system setting! Also in reception she is really stable so far, there were her reception isn't her strongest point usually^^


    Not sure if they are going to make it to the final 4, but hope they can keep performing at this level!:win:

    I thought Nika is the true leader! She shows us that it was a crime to keep her on bench in novara whole season!!!

    So VNL is done for Dutch NT and eventually finished as 7th. Overall I think it's a good result and they finished higher than I expected^^ They showed decent volleyball overall, but were too inconsistent in the end to be a real threat for the top opponents.


    Setter

    Bongearts showed a good performance throughout the whole tournament! When reception and defense allowed her to, she played a fast offense and involved the middles to split the block of the opponent. Also her connection with Dambrink on the right side of the court was good! At the end of VNL her game was a bit sloppy sometimes, so her setting was imprecise. IMO not all the blame is on her, because reception and defense wasn't as good as in the beginning, middle blockers didn't contribute anyting in attack and she didn't have a relaibale/ stable option on the right side anymore after Dambrink left.

    Van Aalen didn't see much court time. I would have liked to see her getting more chances against weaker opponents or during the double sub. Her game is pretty boring and slow, but when she becomes more accurate in her setting, it could be useful to bring some stability from time to time. I don't think she is ready to be part of the team during the important tournaments.


    Opposite

    Dambrink played will for a seventeen year old with zero international experience! Her left arm is a big advantage, so it makes it more difficult for block and defense to read her game. When she becomes more powerful, her game will be more effeicient. We really needed a new opposite to setp up after the retirement of Sloëtjes. I think she is already capapble of being one of the two opposites in the squad for the important tournaments!

    Plak her performance had some ups and downs. She should become more fit and needs more match rhythm to make a real impact. I'm not sure if she will be able to be the main opposite already during ECH 21, but playing for a club again will help her a lot to get back in shape.

    To be honest I don't think Scholten is good enough to play at international level. Last matches she showed better performance, but as an opposite she isn't decisive enough. I think Meijers could have had a bigger impact, but she barely got a chance...


    Outside hitters

    Daalderop showed us she is by far the best outside hitter we have in the Netherlands right now! She is the main weapon in attack. On the other hand she also developed in reception. Still not the best, but more precise and stable than she was. Hope she can become more stable and decisive against top opponts. Only than Dutch team has a chance to beat one of them.

    Buijs symbolizes the inconsistency of the Dutch team:D She can play good, but also can make the most stupid mistakes. I think Daalderop - Buijs is our best outside hitter duo on paper when everything works well, as it did in the match against Russia for example. Althgough reception will be really vulnerable and Buijs isn't as good in attack anymore as she used to be. That's why I think M. Japser deserved more chances during VNL. Everytime she came on court she was able to stabilize the game, with her reception and defense. Also her attack improved, but she still is easy to read for the opponent.

    Savelkoel only played some points against Thailand. Her reception is worse than Daalderop or Buijs, so I don't think she can be a real asset to the team. This is also the reason I didn't understand why H. Jasper didn't got a single chance... She could have been really useful IMO to stabilize the reception against many opponents. Now we only had M. Jasper to help out is reception.


    Middle blockers

    Timmerman played decent throughout the tournament. In a few matches she really showed her potential, both in attack as in block! Only her mental strength often had a bad influence on her performance. You also can see it in her body language, she gets really frustrated with herself. She makes a lot of unforced errors, especially from the service line and gets scared to attack the ball. Hope she can work on that:)

    Lohuis started strong, but at the end was just a ghost on court:(She never has been or will be the most dominant middle blocker, but she at least brought some stability. Her attack was pretty weak, no power behind it. Also in block she was too late a lot if times.

    Shame Baijens had to leave halfway. She is a versatile attacker, both in front as on the slide. She had the best connection with Bongaerts. I think she has the biggest potential!
    Korevaar is a player who doesn't stand out. She always would score around the 6. Personally I think de Zwart is better, but she didn't got a lot of chances from Selinger:thumbdown:


    Libero

    Schoot played amazing this tournament:super: Strong in defense at out of system setting, but also surprisingly stable in reception! Real leader to the young team, bot on court as off the court.

    Knip didn't plauy a lot, but when she got a chance, she dind't show a good performace either. Hope playing in a more competitive league again will help her getting in a better shape!


    Coach

    I think Selinger is a good coach preparing the team for an opponent! However, he cannot react/adapt properly during the match... During timeouts he literally says nothing relevant against the team. It also doesn't help both assistants are same type of coaches, not really loud/ determent. On the other hand, I think he can really make younger players technically better!


    ECH 2021

    Until the third of July the team will have a well deserved rest and vacation. After that, they will start train again and will have two training camps in preparation for ECH. They will play against France and Hungary.

    Based on performance during VNL and players who were rested and will be available again during ECH, I will select the following squad to play at the ECH:

    S: Britt Bongaerts & Laura Dijkema

    OPP: Elles Dambrink & Celeste Plak

    OH: Nika Daalderop, Anne Buijs, Marrit Jasper & Maret Grothues

    MB: Yvon Beliën, Indy Baijens, Eline Timmerman & Juliët Lohuis

    L: Myrthe Schoot & Kirsten Knip

    Quote from staccato lightning

    Why not?

    She said she's ok but she rather not go and is understandable after the surgery and recovering she had to cope the last months

    better to her to wait until be 100% and don't rush things

    https://www.volleybal.nl/nieuw…n-niet-naar-ek-met-oranje

    Quote from VolleyOrange

    Netherlands team will go to France this Friday and play some friendly matches there. Not sure if only against France or other teams as well

    (Information in Kirsten Knip IG post)

    Specifically against NT