The only negative I can say about Lowe is her defense.
Drew and Murphy are rather good defenders but their attack can be too inconsistent. Lowe may be really bad at first but she seemed to be getting better as the match goes on although Brazilian OHs are rather small that could be a hella factor why she can overpower them but her defense is still not good for top level volleyball and then there's Bartsch who could play opposite too. Decisions, decisions.
Lanza has been the starting player for the NT in all major tournaments since 2015 and contributed a lot to a decent result of the team. He should not be easily removed from the squad as experience matters in major tournaments, even if his recent shape is not good enough to justify a starting position. In addition, none of the other OHs are particularly reliable.
Blengini is not brave enough to take Lanza out of the NT. He's too popular because he's handsome and I must admit he's a good player. His fans wouldn't like that.But in my opinion, he should... because he had to root out the worst offender in the azzurri. Serve is very important in today's game and if you can't handle the pressure on causing disarray on reception... He should be out of the NT until he fixes that. I haven't mention the grave errors he commits every time he attacks. Just look at what happens to Italy left without Zaytsev and Juantorena or Giannelli... Simply a mess. 
When he does everything wrong, he's worst than Randazzo or Parodi and the idea of him as one of Italy's best players and a model for every young player is just ridiculous when you have Juantorena, one of the best volleyball athletes who ever played the game and there he is. A player who can be so hot and so cold. I wouldn't want that as an idol for the kids who are learning to play volleyball. It just speak volumes how much the standard of play has lowered down for Italians if he is a starter and he is a staple for the national team.
The azzurri have to rebuild and it will never happen if he always gets the chance because his prestige encompasses his ability and while I may have bias... I think Maruotti, Antonov and Parodi are better because they make less mistakes and are probably only hampered by injuries and a reason why Lanza is a starter in a national team.
Anyway, it will never happen because Blengini can't decide when to turn on or off the switch. He's like ZRG without the accollades. 
Rosamaria is versatile as OH or Opp. I don't believe anyone from Gabi,Amanda and Drussyla are capable of playing that position and while there's Natalia, I don't think it's wise for Ze to gamble twice on a player who hasn't played for half a year like he did in London. She's not 21 years old anymore and I doubt she could take a hit and it's fine because she's still young.
I guess we will see. I don't think Amanda will get the call unless Minas forces ZRG to dismiss Natalia from the NT or Gabiru is eliminated from the NT and changes Amanda to a libero.
In my opinion Gabiru is improving though. She's more mobile now but that reception error on her part during the last point was just a little disappointing.
Ze pushed his luck after winning world grand prix.
He had chances to use younger players but he opted for his older players and then his older players are injured or his club players played like a mess before world championship.
Amanda was even replaced by Carla in Praia because she played terribly in the final and now that she is in Barueri, she suddenly starts ahead of Rosamaria who was instrumental in winning Montreux and World Grand Prix. 
Ze can't fool everyone. He practically summoned almost half of the players from Hinode Barueri to the NT this year. If there's no politics in his decisions for this year. I don't even want to hear the explanation.
Parodi and Spirito were excluded fom the training sessions of the NT.
A shame about Parodi. I think he is better than Randazzo, Lanza and Maruotti when he's in a great condition but he did not show that in VNL. If his reception was only on point, he could've made it pass Lanza and Randazzo when you consider their poor forms.
Lucarelli's out for the world championship. It's final. He sided with Taubate and chose the superliga. I understand his position though. Taubate have to protect its investment and Lucarelli had to protect his contract and career. It'll be unfair for both sides if they get the worst deal if Lucarelli suffers another injury that can potentially worsen his condition.
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Any word on Joao? I know the guy have physical problems all over the place but he's the only player who can score at will and replace Lucarelli. Is he still injured? I wonder if RDS will consider him.
This will probably be Brazil's final pos 4 lineup though: Douglas, Lipe, Rodriguinho and Lucas Loh.
I'm not really confident with the players here. No one is consistent and no one among them is a definitive point getter. i wish Lipe just sacrifice his spot to give a young prospect experience. It's a high risk but Brazil can atleast expect more from preparedness from current young players in Tokyo 2020.
Thaisa's probably for the block and not for attack especially from the backrow. She's still recovering. She wasn't the fastest MB in the world even at her peak but her block can really help in the opposite where's there's no need for lateral movement.
I just hope she's ready before the world championship. Brazil needs more length at the center. Without Suelen, Brazil could be in trouble defensively.
If Russia can control their errors when they are ahead by 4 or crucial points during end of sets, they can make the F6 in wch with or without Kosheleva. Seems like the nerves can pile on them anytime which hurts their confidence when the opposing team could catch up to their lead.
Anyway, congratulations to Russia. It's only a friendly tournament but maybe this could put them back on the right track before the wch.
Let us see what will Pankov do for Montreux. Kosheleva will probably be tested if she's good for WCH or will Pankov consider Scherban?
i think Pankov is testing Romanova in the fourth set. Startseva was not doing bad when she got replaced.
Is Netherlands being punished for not having a proper livestream effort to the foreign fans? 
Gabiru's performance was just painful to watch. I feel sorry for her. It's not her fault but I could see ZRG taking another libero to Montreux and WCH if she does not improve in these friendly series. 
Gabi, Gabiru and Rosamaria are not passing well. Rosamaria is defending half a zone but she's doing well in offense but Gabi have to defend more area for her.
I hope Gabiru improves, her knee injury considerably slowed her down from the previous years.
Thaisa as an opp is interesting atleast for the block. It went great for Brazil. Not bad I say.
Ryley Barnes(CAN) suffered a serious injury on his left ankle with ligament lesions and fracture during training.
Recovery time is not specified but it will take some months to heal therefore he is out of the world championship.
I'd rather not want Pankova to come back. Second setter should be between Vetrova and Startseva in my opinion with Romanova as either the titular or reserve.
#21 of Russia is Kotikova or Malykh?
Romanova seems to have a good connection with her.
Startseva and Goncharova played barely together for the last 3 years. It's possible that the connection is in reset and in need of relearning.
I'm liking Parubets. Voronkova is very shaky tonight.
Koroleva is probably Russia's most impactful player for this match. She have done very well in everything that is expected for an MB.
Russia had to survive on the block as their primary defense. Koroleva serve pretty well and it led to Russia's decent defense. Turkish attacker at pos 4 went wide a couple of times or more as consequence during the third set.
Russian liberos are 
Is Frolova injured? I think she was the best libero of Russia after Malova. She plays as OH and is already old but the liberos of Russia are just as good if not worse than their OHs.
I noticed that you have a legend for loaned player. According to "Volleyball.it", Randazzo is still on loan from Civitanova.
Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.
just watched the friendly between Italy and Netherlands on FIPAV's YT channel.
I have to say Maruotti can actually supplant Lanza's place if he doesn't improve. His serve got better but not great enough to challenge a contender.
I like Maruotti and I don't believe he's not the best but he doesn't make mistakes as the others which is his sellinh point.
I hope Zaytsev's serve returns. He does still makes miracles at set's ends but he's not as effective as he was in 2016-17.
Juantorena's fitness will probably be the be-all-end-all of Italy. If he plays like match 5 of Scudetto final or CEV CL final, it'll be more difficult for them.
My MB titulars for WCH should be Mazzone and Anzani. Cester didn't play well. They lost set 3 when he entered the game. He can still make the bench because of his serve though.
I think Rosamaria will be cut and we will see 5 OHs
I hope Ze doesn't pull this stunt. Brazil is an olympic quad late from changing its players. Amanda is just a redundancy with Fe Garay at this point and we're not even sure if Natalia can return to her previous form and as much as I don't like to use "old" but Amanda is 30 years old. I couldn't see any more improvement she can have at that age if there's anything she could offer to have space for Tokyo Olympics.
