Posts by Emil

To me the Courtney Thompson thing has been such a mystery, she was a good setter but then my question is that was it worth taking her in stead of Glass who had played almost the whole Olympic circle? Also in Rio, she was there as 3rd setter, I'd never understand.

Maybe Karch took her to boost the team vibes or so which I really don't get either.

Aguero - she was just AMAZING in 2007-2009, I felt sorry for her tragic story with her mother and her having to play as OH, she's one of the legendary players who can hit, pass, dig and also set. What a player.

Top 5 setters

1.Fofao

2.Yoshie Takeshita

3.Kun

4.Eleonora Lo bianco

5.Maja Ognjenovic

Top 5 Opps

1.Ekaterina Gamova

2.Tijana Boskovic

3.Malgorzata Glinka

4.Paola Egonu

5.Barbara Jelic

Top 5 MBs

1.Maja Poljak

2.Christiane Furst

3.Nancy Carrillo

4.Foluke Akinradewo

5.Milena Rasic

Top 5 OHs

1.Liubov Sokolova

2.Logan Tom

3.KYK

4.Ting

5.Francesca Piccinini

Top 5 Liberos

1.Yuko Sano

2.Monica De Gennaro

3.Brenda Castillo

4.Fabiana Alvim

5.Paola Cardullo

Quote from serdar

Eda has always been a balanced MB (not one of those pure blocker MBs or only attacking ones), her performance for sure improved throughout her career but I don't think her blocking was ever her weak suit. I also don't agree with your comment about the setters at that match. I think Naz did a pretty good job in that match thanks to her experience while Cansu's performance was very shaky

I meant Wolosz and Akyol, not Ozbay

I don't know why but Erdem to me always has been more like a runner than blocker.

I forgot to add Russia-Serbia in EC 2013 Semi finals where the Russians played a completely different style of volleyball.

It was Pankova's life-match I'd say, she fooled the Serbian blockers by using the middles, in particular Morozova killed so many balls with slide, Shylyakhovaya (jeez, this name has driven me nuts) in very unexpected moments. Pasynkova did a solid job in passing and was able to score with faster sets. Of course, Kosheleva saved Russia's ass whenever she needed to and Goncharova ended the game.

On the other hand nothing really worked for Serbia, even the flow wasn't following them. Too many unforced errors, especially in serving and none of the OHs played good enough, the absence of Mihajlovic due to injury was kinda huge. I remember Maja said Russia never had shown plays like this, that's where the loss came from and I agreed with her.

serdar I agree but I don't want to watch the game ever again though that doesn't mean that I did not enjoy Turkey's performance, Erdem was beyond everything, I always knew she was good, especially her slides, but now she's more like a complete player with dominant blocks. Akoz was also stunning, she had everything a good libero must have.

Janko Yes, back then Serbia was focusing on Nikolic-Djerisilo or Nikolic-Brakocevic rather than the middles and I remember Terzic not being so content with them either, not that Vesna-Natasa duo were bad, but just not enough to battle with Brazil, China and Italy who I think had the best middles and the games showed it. When you won the bronze in 2006 there was Aleksandra Rankovic, a year later Isajlovic and then in Halle Avramovic, that meant that the head coach was testing all he had got.

The appearance of Rasic was kinda surprising to me, she already looked like a veteran, not only her look but also her performance in 2009 And then Veljkovic kept developing herself, Krsmanovic being classy, new Ninkovic (I remember the game where she blocked Thaisa twice in a row), Stevanovic, Mina Popovic and now Aleksic, Serbia are definitely gifted with Mbs now.

crovolley I really enjoyed the match, even though I was rooting for the dutch girls, Fabris was the game changer hands down, I remember the other girls tossing her into the air after the win IMO the main key of Croatia's success of that tournament (being the 5th) was the OHs, Jerkov-Topic duo did a really good job both in passing and attacking and Grbac wasn't so bad at all, besides Malevic aka the new girl was a positive surprise. Too bad that your team couldn't continue like that in the next years.

Bogdan Yes, the EC 2011 was an epic tournament for Serbians, I kinda had lost hopes when Brakocevic was struggling but Malagurski did a good job replacing her, really enjoyed the crazy atmosphere, fans rooting for their girls and honestly I wasn't a big fan of Jelena Nikolic but she deserved all she got as captain.

Also I'm glad that you mentioned regarding Stefana's first match in senior match against USA, she was so brave and didn't even seem to be nervous at all and Terzic made a great decision letting her play over Isajlovic who I think wasn't good enough. As a Spasojevic biased guy I wasn't very happy but they were absolutely strong. When the final roster was published I was questioning myself, "Where are Spasojevic, Djerisilo and Krsmanovic" who contributed to the bronze the last year before

Hi peeps, as a volleyball lover you must have your so called very unforgettable NT matches, it doesn't matter how many years ago those were played, but I thought it would be fun to share.

Here's the list of mine.

1. European Championship 2007 preliminary round

The Netherlands 2-3 Serbia (Hasselt, Belgium)

K.Staelens-Flier-Wensink-Visser-C.Staelens-Stam-Van Tienen

Ognjenovic-Spasojevic-Citakovic-Krsmanovic-Nikolic-Molnar-Cebic

Such a thrilling match, Spasojevic played as OPP and managed to score whenever the team needed her, on the other hand Flier wasn't at her best in critical moments.

The 4th set and tie break really showed the real beauty of volleyball, It was once upon a go but I still remember the passion of the players.

Ognjenovic wasn't very fond of using the middles back then, probably only with Cikakovic who I believe had the quickest slide attacks along with Gioli and Ravva, Krsmanovic usually used to attack in front of her setter and it wasn't as effective as slide.

I miss this dutch team so bad, the Staelens sisters, Flier, Stam, Visser, Wensink, Huurman and Blom

2. European Olympic Qualifications 2008

Poland 3-2 Germany (Halle, Germany)

Sadurek-Skowronska-Dziekiewicz-Liktoras-Glinka-Podolec-Zenik

Hart-Grun-Furst-Sussuchke-Pachale-Dumler-Beier

Another crazy thrilling match, I think this one was posted by Phil yesterday, if you haven't watched it, you should! Especially if you like the old Polish team.

Podolec practically brought the win with her standing serves, Pachale being a shaky receiver wasn't a new thing but also Dumler and Beier were struggling in passing in the tie-break.

I still wonder how this Polish team managed to win the 2nd prize of this tournament with Glinka-Podolec in reception It's more or less like Mihajlovic-Plak duo passing.

If I remember correct, it was the last NT match of Dumler, Hart and Pachale and I have to say that it's such a pity that Dziekiewicz couldn't make the cut for the Olympic Games, she and Liktoras were the best Polish middles, of course along with Agata Mroz who passed away.

3. World Championship 2010 Final

Russia 3-2 Brazil (Tokyo, Japan)

Startseva-Gamova-Perepelkina-Borodakova-Sokolova-Kosheleva-Kryuchkova

Fabiola-Sheilla-Fabiana-Thaisa-Jaqueline-Natalia Pereira-Fabi

The tie-break was epic, at some point the match was going for Brazil but after Perepelkina's block everything turned out.

Gamova was way too strong for this level back then.

4. European Championship 2011 Final

Serbia 3-2 Germany (Belgrade, Serbia)

Ognjenovic-Malagurski-Rasic-Krsmanovic-Nikolic-Molnar-Cebic

Weiss-Kozuch-Furst-Ssuschke-Grun-Brinker-Tzscherlich

Such an unforgettable match owing to the quality but of course also Matthes serve in the tie-break

It was really fun the Serbian girls holding the trophy and being surrounded by their own people in Belgrade.

5. European Championship 2013 Play off

Croatia 3-2 The Netherlands (Halle, Germany)

Grbac-Fabris-Poljak-Milos-Jerkov-Topic-Malevic

Stoltenborg-Pietersen-de Kruijf-Steenbergen-Buijs-Grothues-Knip

Croatia was absolutely the underdog and I honestly had 0 expectation...but then they made it.

6. Olympic Games 2016 Semi Final

Serbia 3-2 USA (Rio de Janiero, Brazil)

Ognjenovic-Boskovic-Rasic-Stevanovic-Mihajlovic-Malesevic-Popovic

Glass-Lowe-Akinradewo-Adams-Hill-Larson-Banwarth

How could one forget this match? Boskovic was a beat in the tie-break, I couldn't believe how fearless she was, using spiking serves at such a critical point

Akinradwo seemed to get injured, was it in 3rd set or 4th or so? Such an unlucky situation for the US.

7. World Championship 2018 Final

Serbia 3-2 Italy (Yokohama, Japan)

Ognjenovic-Boskovic-Rasic-Veljkovic-Mihajlovic-Busa-Popovic

Malinov-Egonu-Chirichella-Danesi-Sylla-L.Bosetti-De Gennaro

8. European Olympic Qualification 2020 Final

Turkey 3-2 Poland (Apeldoorn, The Netherlands)

Akyol-Boz-Dundar-Gunes-Baladin-Ismailoglu-Akoz

Wolosz-Smarzek-Alagierska-Kakolewska-Stysiak-Medrzyk-Stenzel

Poland had numerous chances to end the game up but Smarzek couldn't just kill a ball and Boz was just great, I swear I hadn't had watched her play like that before, both setters were bad IMO. Dundar and Akoz were the key.

What are your favorite games?

Floriana Bertone, Giulia Pisani and Letizia Camera could be added here, they were the winners of 2011 FIVB Volleyball Women's U20 World Championship along with Cate Bosetti, Diouf and Bianchini, but never made it up to a higher level in senior career.

I'm not even sure if Pisani is still playing, but when she was playing for Busto, she was a very strong blocker despite her height.

Of course, Chiara Scarabelli, she was supposed to be Italy's best player but had to stop due to injury.

Quote from Bogdan123

Oh Podolec, i remember her amazing play on WC 2007, at least was amazing against Serbia.

Honestly Podolec's life match was against Germany at the European Olympic Qualifications 2008 in Halle, she killed the Germans with her standing serves. That game was a tremble match, besides Heike Beier played as libero in that match

A severe shoulder injury ruined her career, after the Peking Olympic Games her shape was nowhere to be found.

Oh yes, Vansant and Natalie as well, I still remember the hypes Natalie used to get, especially when Nicole Davis was often criticized and there was a need for libero position.

Probably Malagurski can be added, not that she was just the shadow of junior and some senior careers, but the one she suffered in WC 2011 kinda screwed her, damn, I still remember how much pain she was in, she was screaming and crying. Without that I strongly believe that she would be in Serbian NT and could have made it to Rio 2016. She and Brakocevic kicked everyone's ass in 2011, after the recovery not seeing her name in big clubs roster wasn't surprising anymore

Quote from Let's go orange

She was superb in 2015! The way she distributed the ball to her teammates was a plessure to watch. So sad she couldn't handle the pressure

Yes, she was practically THE god of setting pipes, those to Hill, Larson, Robinson and Ozsoy in ECZ, kinda sad that she quit playing.

It's quite interesting that even she said that she likes setting pipes the most herself.

If I'm not mistaken, it was 06-08 season, Castro had started playing since 2004 and Steinbrecher joined in 2006.

I'd also add Kreklow, I honestly had expectations of her to be the starting setter of US national team. She was damn creative, fearless and had really skillful hands.

Scavolini Pesaro with Costagrande, J. Carvalho, Skowronska, Furst, Ferretti, Guiggi and Winjhoven as libero was definitely my favorite, was it 2007-2008? It was just so much fun to see them play together as a team.

Also Perugia with Del core, Gioli, Francia, Crisanti, Arcangeli and Pachale.

The biggest failure was Novara 09-10 though, having Flier and Kozuch at the same time was just a wrong decision. Staelens getting pregnant right after the club signed her was a joke and I won't even mention Kirilova.

Angela Mcginnis, Danica Radenkovic, Magdalena Damaske (though she's still young)

As an old member myself, the forum is not even close to how it used to be, yet, I'm not going to complain about that. Time flies, people change, things change, relatively fast.

Members leaving the forum could be because of the reason above or maybe they don't like some others but also maybe they are so busy and not into volleyball anymore. But then one doesn't have to, nor is obliged to stay if they don't feel like it. It's a personal decision I'd cautiously say.

Even me, I haven't been so active here because mostly I was extraordinarily fed up provocations, attacking someone just for having a different opinion and speaking of provocations, I kinda realized that I also had made sensitive posts here that could definitely be considered aggressive, probably towards some certain players, clubs or countries, so what I learned from this is that before you want to target and bully someone, why don't you look at yourself first? Read what you're going to write, think twice if it would hurt someone, because that's what I did and I absolutely regret doing that. Maybe in my culture it's okay to say things like that, but not in the other part of the world.

I mean imagine if everyone agrees you and there's no one saying different statements, that's not a forum, that's more like a fan club and that's not what we are here for, are we?

It's a difficult moment worldwide, for now it doesn't really matter who to blame or think who's the best and worst to handle this crap, it won't be too late yet if we do that after everything is calmed. Let's just hope this disaster will be gone soon, I'm LITERALLY worn out, both mentally and physically hearing people dying every single day.

Quote from serdar

You literally rewrote what I just said

Apparently right, I didn't read your post

https://nypost.com/2020/04/06/…t-kicked-coronavirus-ass/

I'm far from being an emotional person but this is such a beautiful story

I've never been such a fan of Zivkovic, mostly for not being creative, but she's damn fine especially now and for Russian league.

She may not be the most entertaining setter in the world but she does her job very well, definitely prefer her over Dijkema, I guess she just received an offer from a better team.