Posts by SoloBlock

StefanS Thank you for keeping this page updated. I think the final will be very compelling. I think the Romanian team actually continues to be quite underrated. They have several very good players and I think the final with Busto Arsizio could be quite good.

StefanS, you have mentioned several times the victory of Stuttgart over Alba Blaj. It was indeed a great victory for Stuttgart, who has proven to be a very good team. I think it is important to notice that Alba Blaj was without their best/most important player Sonja Newcombe for both games against Stuttgart, as she was injured. The team is much more stable with her on the court.

I am not trying to take away anything from Stuttgart's win or their great season, but I think Alba Blaj is a better team and I think the CEV Cup final will be quite interesting. I hope!

Quote from crovolley

No way that She will go their. Novara can offer more money than any other Brazilian team and She will play CL with them so I don't think so, if Novara really wants her.

I agree that Bartsch would choose Novara over Brazil, but I completely disagree about the money. At least the top 4 clubs are capable of making competitive offers. Minas and Praia Clube are definitely able to offer as much as an Italian club. Plus Minas will play Club world Championship. I don't thunk it is such a clear choice.

He won the Brazilian Cup this season.

I disagree. Mara and Carol Gattaz for me are better than Mayhara and Juciely, but the two in Rio get to work with Roberta. I think outsides are more equal. Gabi for me is not far superior. She also makes many mistakes in attack, in games with Minas this season. Rosa and Pri make too many direct errors in reception. My opinion, all Minas attackers would be much better with Roberta.

Macris not only makes bad decisions, but is also very lazy with her feet. She does not do well with balls tight to the net or off the net. Her window is very small as she requires absolute perfect reception to make a good set. Even then she is predictable.

Disappointing for Minas. I believe they have more individual talent than Rio, but they are not the better team. Lavarini made many mistakes. He should have started with Pri and Sonja at OH. Just like the final of South American Championship. Even today Minas was at there best with Sonja on court. Hooker wasn't good, also Rosamaria was not good but Macris was bad as she has been most of the season.

The big difference for Minas is setter. If they have the quality of setter of the other 3 semifi al teams, they would be in the Final

I also do not think Rosamaria is a good fit for Europe. She has not been good at reception or in critical moments. I would much rather have Sonja from Minas. She has been much more consistent. She covers reception for Rosa and has been good in decisive moments against Osasco, Rio, and Fluminense since coming to Minas.

In Minas no player attacks well consistently including Hooker because Macris is not a great setter. She is very predictable with her setting. It is difficult for the attackers.

I would like for Sonja to stay in Brazil, but I also don't mind seeing her back in Europe. I remember she had a great season in Turkey a few years ago. Maybe she could return. I think she is an underrated player.

I thought both Americans, Hooker and Newcombe were good. Hooker in attack and Newcombe in Serve, Pass, and defense. They needed a little more help from their Brazilian team mates. I felt Rosamaria, Pri Daroit, and Macris were not great. Macris sets too inconsistant and too many first balls to Hooker.

Gabi had a rough match but Rio was better in tough moments. I think Roberta was the big difference. She is way better than Macris.

I hope this series goes to 5 matches. Very entertaining!

They say that the roof collapsed at the gym where the game was suppose to be played. They had to change the site and could not put together the proper security to allow fans

Thank you

Is there a way to watch the Praia vs Minas game today? Thanks

Also Sonja Newcombe is new to Minas with Hooker. They played vs Carlo Lloyd tonight

You can only hope that other players and coaches do not go there in the future. But there will always be girls wanting to play A1. I hope Bjelica does not go there. I'm surprised Barcellini went. They have to aware that Legnano's management is horrible.

Quote from Andre Marquim

For what I understood, watching Lavarini’s interview for SporTV, she is just inscribed for Superliga, she couldn’t play Copa Brasil. But I didn’t pay too much attention, I may be wrong.

Yes, Sonja could not play in this match because the rules would not allow a mid season transfer to play in the Copa . It is a shame because she really could have helped Minas today. Maybe the couldn't have won, but it would have been a better match with Sonja in

Quote from saishuu

David Lee (USA NT MB) also comes close: Greece, Russia, Italy, France, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Indonesia, Turkey and now Argentina. Seems like Americans like to know the world.

Also they don't have their own league to play in, so this forces them to other places.

Logan's list is truly impressive! I would love to see her in Germany and Poland before she is done.

The only other player I can think of that can come close to Logan's list is fellow American Sonja Newcombe. She has played in Puerto Rico, France, Germany, Turkey 2X, China 2X, Azerbaijan, Italy and Brazil.

Sorry for I just find it interesting and Amazing!

Quote from Kk15

Now they aired Buonavita as coach and Barcellini as OH.

I totally agree that they messed it up: despite they keep denying it it's pretty clear they had problems paying the girls and staff (and also the hall, btw – that's for sure). and 'had problems' could even mean 'they've never paid them' (I don't know it but many rumors seem to suggest that).
Curiously, they said they WILL pay the players in time with the first 'deadline' (in january, if I recall well), when they have to prove they payed 30% of the salary. So they practically admit they didn't payed them/they payed less than the 30%.

Plus, they also declared officially that they resigned with the coach because they weren't happy about the result (...) and that they broke the contract with Newcombe because they weren't happy of her performances (or may be it was Drews). I mean, at least the decency to don't put the blame on them...

I wonder if the players that resigned has been payed/will have to be payed: considering they won't be part of the team in the mentioned deadline, probably they won't have to prove they payed them...

[Sorry for the off topic]

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The Italian League should not approve any new transfers for Legnano. I feel bad for the girls there, but it is not right to bring in New people when you have not paid your current people.

Also, any person that thinks Pistola, Drews, Newcombe and Mingardi have left for performance reasons is a fool. Before Newcombe left the team was 8th position which would qualify for playoffs. What more could the team want for the first year in A1?

Quote from Toguttt

Also Sonja Newcombe officially left SAB Legnano, following the financial issues of the club.
http://dal15al25.gazzetta.it/2…/newcombe-saluta-legnano/
Many Italian teams are interested in signing her, including Modena and Casalmaggiore.

Drews is rumored to sign with Filottrano to replace disappointing Tomsia.

Would love to see Sonja back in Italy on a better team or better situation. I think both Sonja and Annie could help teams in the 2nd half of the championship.

Quote from rbdfabio

To be honest I had no idea who she was until this season when she played in China. As I said, based on her performance in China only. She played good, but nothing special about it, and who lead the team was Rachel Rourke that was scoring 20,30,40 points per match. And it was a team effort, in the 2 first games of the semifinal she did not play because she was sick and still they lost but only in the 5set.

She might be a good defensively but I don`t think she`s good enough offensively for the international level. Just check her stats on the chinese page, and you will see she was very inconsistent scoring, she had one game with 20 points, but she had a bunch under 10, and against the strongest teams she did not do very well. ( you can watch replays on youtube ).

And I don`t think Karch will use 2 players receiving only, he needs 2 OH that can pass and score. Hill, Robinson, Bartash can pass plus they can score a lot as well.

But we will see, let`s see how she will perform in the Grand Prix, hopefully she will do well.

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I think her lack of scoring was more because of a lack of opportunities than anything. In many matches her kill percentage was higher than Rourke's. Also the 2 years Newcombe Played in Turkey she was top 10 in the league in scoring and in 2014/15 in Turkey she was top 10 in scoring, kills, serving, passing, and she was #1 in blocking for non middles.

I understand that maybe not so many people know about her, but I have been a fan since she went to University of Oregon. There she was the all time leading scorer. Just want to share some info about her

Quote from rbdfabio

Even without Glass or a any good OPP at the moment, the US has really no reason to worry, The Americans always get to be starters on their club teams, even when playing their first season, they never bench. Carlini will play her first season and will be a starter right way, Hancock is not a good setter but she played 2 season as starter in Poland and you can expect her to be starting in Italy or Turkey for the next 4 years, which means they have 4 years to get there. Same thing goes for the OPP position.

I think Larson and Foluke will make to Tokyo.

I watched Newcombe in China and she was really weak, and right now at the gym Bartash is outplaying her. It will be Larson,Hill,Robinson,Bartash. But 3 years is a long way to go and things change.

@rbdfabio I think you could not be more wrong about Newcombe. She lead Sichuan to the clubs first ever playoffs and was the only new edition to the team from the previous year. She passed with two and was one of the top receivers in the league. She also served great and had more aces than Mihajlovic. She was not asked to carry the offensive load because of Rachel Rourke. Her team also beat Beijing (Robinson/Lowe) Shanghai (Pavan/Havelkova) Henan (Murphy/Easy), and Laoning with Ding Xia and Yan Ni.

IMHO Newcombe is the most under rated player for USA. She has also played great in Turkey, Russia, and Azer. Would love to see her greet time with USA. I also think she would be great back in China or with Fenerbahce as a receiving/defensive OH opposite Natalia

Quote from USAvolleyfan

Someone said Shanghai and Tijanin are the richest clubs.. Beijing also has some money

Most teams in China are able to pay much more than European clubs and for a shorter season. Fujian also has a big budget and I know Sichuan has a good budget and was paying Rachel Rourke a large amount, especially compared to Europe clubs. Based on what I know, China is the highest paying league in the world right now.