That was a controversial decision for Buzato
. I mean, he brought Gorbunova to Rimini who's the same age as Kadochkina (indeed, they were born the same year, month, and day
) and not her.
Kadochkina had a poor club season and afaik she wants to play OH. But with her current reception skills she is not a candidate for a NT OH spot. She had health issues the season before but hardly missed a game last season.
Any information on the u20 WC team?
Busato mentioned Gorbunova.
Super League players who might be part of the team:
S: Popova, Selyutina
MB: Menshchikova, Slautina, Kochurina
OH/OPP: Kadochkina, Akimova, Chernova, Yakushina, Kruk, Pisarevskaya, Gorbunova, Gatina
Libero: Doronicheva, Perova
Any information on Zaytseva. Was surprised to see Gorbunova playing libero...
Interview with Busato from one week ago https://volley.ru/news/2/p2/24189/
Pypurinova as a starter was a very odd decision and to replace both OH quite early even worse...
I agree that Parubets and Podkopaeva will solve a lot of problems... But playing the VNL without a good receiver is just a waste of time. Even Pilipenko is better in defense than reception... And they should be looking for options without Parubets... From the younger players I see Kotikova, Simonenko and Zvereva as possible options. M. Frolova, Chaplina or Shcherban (did better last season than before and played usually instead of Krotkova) are the experienced options.
Fedorovtseva should be playing as much as possible. I still would like to see the reception skills form Smirnova (Malygina can play OPP 
)...
I totally agree with Ksyusha. The physical and technical development of a player happen mostly in the clubs where they spend most of the year. The focus of the NT should be on tactics and creating automatisms between the players on court. I guess many clubs have not the financial ressources to hire enough and good staff to focus on player development (main exceptions are Kazan and Uralochka). What really annoys is that a big club like Dynamo seems to be lacking in the development of young players. Zarechie and Lipetsk seem to focus and young players but I think they do not have the ressources.
I don't know how much and in what way the Volleyball Federation of Russia is helping the clubs but there are several things they could do. They could send coaches to the clubs to help out or organize trainings for NT prospects (since the country is huge they would need several locations). They could pay clubs a specified amount of money for each NT prospect. They should do workshops and courses for club coaches to improve their skills etc.
I think the B team did better than expected agains NED but over all no surprises.
Setters: pretty solid
OPP: Goncharova is showing a good form. Smirnova did better than I expected from her club performance. Still don't think that she is an option for the OG. Gorbunova hardly played. I think she is a promising player (18 y.o.) and it was a good move to bring her along.
MB: Very disappointing. Never made sense to bring Malygina and she did not show otherwise. Almost the same for Brovkina. She is tall and young but that should not be enough to include her. She was not even the best MB in her club!
OH: The players played as expected. Kapustina's attack was not as good in the club season but her serve got stronger. I would like to see Smirnova playing OH (used to receive when she played in Moscow).
Libera: Pilipenko was not used much in reception at her club (Kurnosova did receive and was one of the best receiver in the league) and as expected she had her problems... Zaytseva showed about the same level as she did all season which is pretty solid.
Cuneo signed Russian OH Sofia Kuznetsova from Dinamo Moscow. Is she good? I don't remember ever seeing her play
She did not really play last season (five sets as sub). 2019/2020 she was in St. Petersburg (Leningradka) but not a regular starter. She mostly played OPP. I think her serve was quite good and she is quite powerful in attack even though she is not that tall. I have my doubts about her reception skills.
Display Morewide roster of the Russian nt
S: Startseva, Romanova, Matveeva, Lazareva
Opp: Goncharova, Smirnova, Gorbunova
MB: Koroleva, Fetisova, Kotova, Efimova, Brovkina, Malygina
L: Malova, Pilipenko, Zaytseva
Oh: Parubets, Kosheleva, Voronkova, Lazareva, Fedorovtseva, Sazonova, Pipunyrova
I would have prefered Popova instead of Lazareva but it doesn't matter since Startseva and Romanova won't be replaced. I like Gorbunova but I think she might be playing OH next season (Malykh is in the same team). Smirnova is more of an OH than an OPP imho. Malygina is an odd choice... I would prefer Lazarenko, Evdokimova or Sikacheva (haven't seen her before this season and liked her). I would have hoped that there would be an defensive OH... I think the team will struggle when Parubets or Voronkova have a bad reception day. Fedorovtseva is great in attack but not reliable enough in reception, Lazareva is not an OH, Kapustina (Sazonova) is much better in attack than reception... My favourite would have been Kotikova or if you want to go with experience Chaplina (Rusakova) or Shcherban. Kadochkina's reception isn't good enough for NT at the moment.
Valeria Shatunova, Elizaveta Kochurina, Anna Prasolova and Svetlana Mosaleva will leave Sparta
Is Kochurina going back to Kazan? They lacked MB depth and quality last season.
Moscow next season https://rsport.ria.ru/20210420/dinamo-1729161260.html:
Romanova, Anufrienko
Goncharova, Khaletskaya
Vasileva, Begic, Krotkova, Simonenko
Fetisova, Enina, Lyubishkina, Polyakova
Bibina, Pospelova
Sad to see Krotkova and Simonenko as substitutes...
what do you guys think about the chances of setter Popova making the wide roster? Obviously Romanova and Startseva are the main setters but the back-up setter is very wide because the rest are more or less on the same level. Her ball and location control is still subpar but she is aggressive and young. She plays either really good or bad and no in betweens. Matveeva is obviously even younger and have been the main setter of her team but i just dont find her game aggressive or creative enough to make difference.
I would like to see Startseva/Popova... I think Popova improved a lots since last summer and is the most exciting young setter in Russia. Matveeva is doing a decent job but is not yet good enough for the NT. I don't really like Romanova (hardly ever had a good game with the NT) but expect her to be the second setter at the olympics. Other decent setters are Filishtinskaya (she looked better than before her break), Vetrova (a bit too inconsistent) and Efimova (played really well the previous season; haven't seen her this season since she played with Severyanka).
I still think Kazan will win the league... Shcherban is playing really well though, but still think Moscows reception will struggle against Kazan. If Fedorovtseva's reception is okay they will win.
Tomorrow is the playoff decision:
Enisei was very disappointing in the first match (0:3) and it seems very unlikey that they will be able to win in Kaliningrad.
Lipetsk's reception was non-existing in the first match (0:3). They can't play worse...
I feel like Minchanka lost their chancen to make the final six in the first game (2:3) in the first game. They had matchpoints in the third set and were leading 24:20 in the fourth...
Krasnodar is still below form (1:3 in Saratov). The reception was shaky (especially Sperskayte). They have the means to make it to the final six but they need to really step it up...
Any idea why the reception stats here http://www.volleyservice.ru/in…ct=stat_game&game_id=4903 are different?
Last game of qualification round is on Saturday: Moscow in Kazan. Moscow needs three points to win the qualification. The game does not really matter since both teams are qualified for the final six...
The first playoff matches will also be played on Saturday. The winners will be part of the final six in Moscow.
Enisey - Loko: Loko is doing considerably better with Lippmann and ended up in third place. But Enisey was doing pretty good in recent weeks. They have good setters and MB's and Leyva seems to have solved the problem with the second OH (M. Frolova still solid). They met nine days ago in Kaliningrad (3:2 for Loko) when Enisey came back 2 sets down. Loko is the favourite but Enisey might get their chances.
Proton - Krasnodar: Both teams are not doing so well right now. Krasnodar had a good start last year and ended up third in the Russian Cup but played rather poorly in recent weeks (0:3 against Leningradka nine days ago, 1:3 against Sparta). They met three days ago when Dinamo won 3:0 (26:24, 29:27, 25:17). Krasnodar should make it to the finals but it will probably be closer than in the last game (Krasnodar won the first game 3:2).
Minchanka - Leningradka: This is the best season for Minchanka since they joined the Superleague. They were unlucky had two quarantine breaks this season. The had back to back games in December (Leningradka won first 3:1, lost second 2:3). Leningradka is now without Kryuchkova and Nyakina is not as good as her. Should be close with Leningradka slightly the favourite.
Lipetsk - Uralochka: Lipetsk is the surprise team of the season (or at least for me). The newcomer placed seventh after the qualification. Both matches against each other where in December (Lipetsk won first 3:1, lost second 2:3). Back then Uralochka was still looking for the right formation without Parubets. They are stronger now but still not convincing (lost 0:3 last Saturday against Enisey). Both teams have some problems in attack which would suggest long and close matches.
Odd move from Sazonova. She needs to be playing if she wants to be part of the NT.
Very unfortunate for Lipetsk. They had a good season and Sazonova had a lot to do with that. I guess Gorbunova will play OH. Good thing Korzhova was doing well lately. With nine wins so far they should be able to make the playoffs since they have to play Enisey, Sparta and Tulitsa in the last six games.
Enisey used four different opposite players agains Dinamo Metar (the won after losing the first two sets). This season five players were on that position: Pisarevskaya, Leyva Tagle, Simonova (OH), Brovkina (MB) and Samoilenko (MB). They have too many good middleblockers and lacking quality on OPP...
I think it is too early to say who will be in the team in spring/summer. Some players are fix as long they are healthy but especially the OH postitions will depend on who is playing in the next months in their clubs and how they are doing.
Fix members of the NT:
Startseva-Gonchareva
Koroleva-Fetisova
Voronkova
Malova
Romanova is probably still the favorite for the second setter position but I hope some other players will get the chance. I think Vetrova is having a pretty good comeback. Filishinskaya is not doing as good but she is in a very weak club. I liked Efimova last season but she is not in the superleague anymore.
I think Voronkova is the only OH apart from Parubets who has a safe place in the NT. She is still better than the other options... I like Sazonova but her reception is not consistent. But she is only 22 and it is her first season. She receives most balls and gets also most balls in attack (similar to Parubets). Some players to consider If you just go by the stats: Chaplina, Shevchuk, Zvereva (only if she plays more), Shcherban, O. Frolova (needs to play more, was really good last season), Simonenko, Fedorovtseva, Pipurynova, Krotkova (needs to play more). I like Kotikova but she needs to play more. Kadochkina needs to improve her reception. No idea how Lazareva and Kosheleva are doing but they are obviously options.
Looking at the league stats, Fedorovtseva has 52% positive reception (Malova has 54%), not very good but passable and definitely better than Voronkova. The other OH alternatives Scherban etc are too unstable and won't contribute too much in attack anyway so I think Fedorovtseva is the closest player as a replacement for Parubets. I know she is still too young (17 y.o. next year), but in the games she has played so far, it seems she is able to cope with the pressure. Arina and Malova can do a 2-person receiving system like Serbia..
The stats I see favour Voronkova (57 %) http://www.volleyservice.ru/in…ic&act=main_stat&gender=f http://vfv-web.dataproject.com…gComplete.aspx?ID=21&rt=7
Russian Cup this weekend in Moscow:
The four best teams of the season made it to the final four (technically Leningradka fifth behind Kaliningrad but Kaliningrad was not that strong in recent weeks...).
The semis are Krasnodar vs Kazan and Leningradka vs Moscow. A few thoughts on the teams (if no players are absent):
Kazan: Won the Cup last season and favorite this year. Won 3:0 against Krasnodar and Leningradka, lost 2:3 against Moscow (without Startseva and Fedorovtseva). Their poor performance in CL showed that they are not at their best yet but still the team to beat.
Moscow: Leader of the league. Lost the final last year. Had to play five sets against the other three teams in the league (lost agains Krasnodar after being 2:0 ahead, won against Leningradka thanks to Klimets/Babeshina). They are better than in the last few years and have a good chance to win the Cup.
Krasnodar: Strongest team in years with the best substitutes in the league (for every position except the OPP they have a sub who is almost as good as the starter). Kazan is probably too strong for them unless they serve really well.
Leningradka: Very experienced players (hardly any player is younger than 28). Setter Neponmyashchikh is doing much better than in previous seasons. I don't think that they can manage another suprise like in the qualification (clear win in Kaliningrad) unless Moscow is having a really bad day.
The short one in wgp 17
That many confused with frodo from lotr 😂
https://women.volleybox.net/mariia-frolova-p6040 Already 34... Not really an option for NT.
