A much better match for Eczacibasi than yesterday. In addition to 3rd set, where it's obvious that Chonburi played good, they started the first set well, getting to 8-8, but then the Turkish team had a 13-2 run. And even in 2nd set, Thailand girls played some terrific defence.
Again, a good spread of points: Tijana 16, Kim 13, Jordan 8...
Just watched Eczacibasi's match. The first two sets were unwatchable due to catastrophic reception of team from Kazakhstan, but they improved in that regard in the 3rd, as well as attacked with more variety (especially from zone 6).
An excellent match for girls from Istanbul. I don't have official stats with me, but according to stats I kept, Tijana had a staggering 83% in attack today (19/23). That's just...wow!
amongst the big 3 (must be Tijana,KYK,Larson ) i think Tijana has been the best in total (Offensively)..KYK has had ups and downs
we can have a better opininon about them when they face some good teams at WCWC (Praia,Vakıf etc) and Vakıf and Fener in the league
@Janko..it wont be that easy for Eczacı to repeat the record Vakıf broke ..lol
No, that's not what I was referring to when I said "broken record". It's an expression in English language meant to convey repeating something over and over again. So, when I said that, I was referring to the fact I have said already several times how dominant Eczaci is even with a relatively average (for their potential) form, lol...sorry for causing a misunderstanding!
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it looks frightening that Eczaci is able to dominate to this level (1 set lost in 9 games!) without even playing spectacularly well (or even with all the players). Ouf of those 9 games, only in 1 can we say that all of the Big 3 played well (against Ekaterinburg).
Now, that doesn't mean that they will continue to do so, but it still looks surreal....
Well, it's the Olympics, so she might suck it up like Brakočević did, especially since it would be her first (and very likely the last) participation.
I certainly hope you are right, but unfortunately I have a feeling that Ana's resentment is much stronger (and certainly much longer-standing) than Jovana's.
Anyway, day later, and there is still no full match video on YT (that I can find). This means that if anyone wants to watch some match of this year's CL, we will have to do it live. I'm not used to watching live matches, at least of teams I support, so it's a big inconvenience for me that I'll have to overcome.
Champions League is truly making me regret the fact that Maja is no longer playing for Eczacibasi...just imagine, KYK-Tijana-Larson trio, and Maja setting them beautiful balls!
Instead we will have to watch her set to Goncha more than 50% of the time match after match.
8 matches in the season, still only 1 set lost for Eczacibasi...also, Haak is giving further proof what an absolute jewel she is!If only she would get a bit more help...
i believe Fenerbahçe will help setter Ana improve her game and return to the Serbian NT...Serbia will need her in Tokyo 2020
You can forget it. Maja has already said she will play in Tokyo, so we can be reasonably certain that Ana will be "injured" that summer (just as we can be reasonably certain that she WON'T be injured in 2019, for European Championship, when Maja almost certainly won't play
).
Cobgrats, Serbia! New world's female vball #1 team! 👐
To think that 15 years ago, we had trouble to qualify for European Championships, and did not participate in any FIVB tournament!
Also that a country of 7 million is #1 in the most popular female sport in the world...
why is everyone so confident that zhu is leaving after this season?
Because there are rumours Chinese want her back in China, and not to spend herself in long Turkish seasons, for Tokyo 2020. I heard they even tried to buy out her contract this off-season, but Vakif refused.
So right from the start 2 most interesting games in Group stage...Imoco should win (if they don't rest players), and the other match will depend on how Fener serves.
Btw, the fact that Terzic is Novak Djokovic's uncle-by-marriage is sometimes used by those who don't like Terzic and criticise him as the reason for him staying as coach of NT for so long despite supposedly "having no clue". I know, makes no sense, but a lot of people in Serbia are still bitter about the whole Anja Spasojevic's debacle (and to a lesser degree, about Vesna Citakovic and Ivana Djerisilo), who is mythologised here, at least among casual volleyball watchers (in no small part due to her beauty).
I'm not sure about children, but his wife's name is Sanda, and she is the sister of Novak Djokovic's mother.
It's not like that's a new development...last season was the same two-horse race (with one team winning all the titles, too).
Though depending on who Vakif brings to replace Zhu's departure after this season, and how long Kim stays in Eczaci (does anyone know the length of Kim's contract?), things might be different next year.
This will be a very long year for the supporters of Gala...
As beri said, Hande is capable of better than this, she has shown it in VNL...I don't know if it's some kind of mental block when it comes to clubs or what...
Fener has managed something I was very sceptical about, and that is successfuly replace one of the most dominant finishers in female volleyball, Rahimova. Vargas-Bricio duo has been more than good enough to make up for that so far, and the fact that they have put together a roster where they have 4-5 excellent servers is a huge bonus.
That said, it is still hard to see them butt-in into a Eczaci-Vakif tango that has become Turkish league in the last 2 years.
I don't think Gamze's sets to Tijana were particularly better than those to other players, it's just that Tijana can kill out-of-system and less-than-ideal balls best of all teammates. It's true that Kim played worse than her last 2 games, but Gamze's connection with her was arguable worst, and she truly send her many junk balls.
The truly frightening thing is that Eczacibasi is not playing anything close to their potential, and they have still only lost only 1 set in 6 games (admittedly, helped by some mental breakdowns by Fener in 1st and 3rd sets). If they improve their level, I think there is even a chance of repeating the historic 2012-2013 season of Vakif.
Can someone explain all those Korean fans? Have they come all the way from Korea just to watch Kim, or are they people living in Turkey?
First match where the Big 3 played the whole match. Despite the impressive set win ratio thus far, Eczacibasi is not quite as strong as the record would have you believe. Setter is still a big liability, and I'm worried about Italian teams in CL, and their star-studded rosters.
In 6 matches thus far in this season, Eczacibasi lost only 1 set.
Basketball Euroleague format >>>>> Volleyball CL
#facts
Make it happen to be honest!
Attractive in theory, too many matches in practice.
Say what you will about the level of the play, but by goodness, what a beautiful technique Bricio has...her serve and spiking are so aesthetically pleasing!
We always knew that setters were BY FAR the weakest link for Eczacibasi. Gamze and Ezgi will only ever be "underwhelming" in the company of world-class teammates, it's just a matter of how much underwhelming. They may turn out to be "not bad enough" to stop the team from winning titles.
