Posts by Andreavillar

Quote from serdar

Obviously VNL this year was used as preparation for Olympics. Next year there's no reason to refrain bringing new players into the mix. Indeed the year after Olympics is almost always used for building new team composition depending on who is retiring. Turkey will probably only lose Eda for next Olympic cycle (even for her, I wont be surprised if she would play till 2026, she has a contract with fb till then). Thus there's no immediate rush to make a generational switch. However with so many good prospects in the pipeline, I think santarelli will start including in the team sooner than later

And next year is the WCH, which also most if not all teams will use as preparation for, especially given that Turkey doesnt really need a generational change right now. Realistically I see it happening starting 2026, or if invited would be to be in the bench and gain experience.

Quote from Copravolley22

Playing with teams from Asia is specific and for Italy it was probably the first match with a team from this part of the world. In the 3rd and 4th sets we fought more but it wasn't enough. I hope that tomorrow against Taipei we will play much better from the start. For me, gold or bronze doesn't matter here. The important thing is to be here and gain experience. It's a pity that Serbia is not here.

Also the bright sight is that Caruso stepped up in this tournament. Her game today was off but overall good performance and the good things is that just like in the Euro u18 Italy is playing with 3 OHs and not a pure opposite, something like China dies, covering LYY in some rotations.

Maybe the federation finally realized that world class OH is what is needed for the future.

Quote from volleySrb

Not true, defense is usually terrible at that age. European teams have problem because they mostly used 2007 girls and now they need to play with a girls 2008 and some of this girls were bench to players 2007, other first time called.

This is partially true but at least for Turkey and Italy they maintained some or all of their key players who played the Euro U18 a couple months ago.

Turkey played with the same trio of skipers (Kuyan sisters and Aylin) and Italy retained Tosini amd Caruso, with only Queri being replaced by Massaglia / Aimaretti.

The biggest issue for me is how they unaccustomed to playing with Asian team they are, that's why I thought today's match was going to be a challenge. Adding to that, that in the case of Italy, Tosini, who is arguably the star of the U18, didn't perform up to expectations. Only in set 3 and 4 we actually saw how she can really perform.

Quote from elysus

I just wonder is it really that easy to get a Turkish nationality? With Vargas case I kinda understand it since she played in Turkey for few years and probably could even live there off season but didn’t Markova just spent half a club season in Turkish League?

Girl spent like 3 months in Turkey, 2 in Italy, 2 more in Indonesia, etc.

Vargas' case was completely different even though there was money involved and she chose the best bidder, her relationship with the Cuban federation was broken beyond repair and they treated her like s***. And as you said she spent a few years in Turkey so it sort of made sense.

Quote from Justbegoodtome

afaik Markova has not played for Russia NT, am I wrong? So she will be the same case as Antropova.

Just in the sense that she never played for NT but Antropova has bern in Italy since 13 yo so basically all her sporting career was developed in Italy and hence she chose to compite for Italy, even with almost no help from the federation.

Quote from serdar

Dilay is gonna be next big thing! She might be the best setter turkey raised since Naz, who was also MVP of u20 at her own generation (setters getting MVP is Indeed not very common). Dilay is a great blocker, great server next to her great technique. She should definitely get playing time in next vnl and should be our setter duo with Elif. I can't wait for watching her in Beşiktaş this season

Another great talent is Begum kaçmaz (2007) who played against 2 year older players in this tournament. She is so quick at blocking at this age, it is incredible! She can easily fill Eda's shoes in a few years. She is at the same age Zehra was invited to senior NT. After playing with Dilay in Beşiktaş, I expect her to get a chance in VNL next summer. Bilge Pasa will be playing in Nilüfer Belediyesi with Selin Çalışkan (second setter of this team).

Beren had a great tournament but I don't think she will be a big name at senior level due to her height (would be more than happy to be proven wrong).

Outsides: both safronova and Eylül durgun are error machines. Eylül has already played as starter in sultanlar ligi with Dilay last season so I expected her to be less error prone. She will play in Sarıyer belediyesi next season, will be fighting with Ceyda Aktaş and Krotkova for the starting spot. Safronova will mostly sit at the bench in Fenerbahçe next season. I think she should have gone to a mid level team to get more playing time. İlayda Mumcular is most talented of the three OHs but she got the least playing time weirdly she will have to fight with Şeyma Ercan and İdil Naz Bascan for starting position, assuming Mihajlovic will play as Opp in Zerenspor.

Turkey has better OH prospects from 2008 generation (Ceylin & Ceyda Kuyan twins) also Eslem Yılmaz (2007) so if the 3 outsides from 2005-2006 generation won't step up soon, we will still have some talents in the pipeline.

All in all, turkish NT seems to have a bright future with upcoming prospects although senior NT is quite young and only need to replace eda for next Olympic cycle, rest of the team can play at least two more Olympics. Almost all of the u20 players will play in Sultanlar ligi👏

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Dilay was the difference maker here and that goes to show how important it is to have a good setter as they make the spikers look better than their actual abilities, especially for u tournament.

That said, I don't think the potential duo Elif - Dilay could do it. You need setters that are different, and Cansu is still the most creative as Dilay still needs to improve.

Also, at VNL 2025 coaches might include one or two new players as it will be utilized as preparation to the WCH, so I don't expect to see many inclusions and teams will most likely remain the same.

Quote from serdar

I agree kaçmaz should have been in the dreamteam instead of safronova. Kaçmaz made blocks at both semis and finals games. I think safronova was chosen because of her serves.

I don't think turkey has problem with outsides. İlkin and hande are good players when they are not injured. Also Ebrar was great last year although she was in a bad shape this season. There are players like Saliha şahin and Tuğba senoglu in the pipeline. Both will be starter in their teams so they could improve their level. Also Melisa bukmen and ipar Kurt could make it to senior NT depending on their development in next couple of years.

I think our struggle will be libero. Besides Selin adalı, we dont have a good prospect from younger generations

Safranova was given an award because they couldn't give Belgium another award and out of the remaining starting OHs from both finalists (not counting Bosso because she was the best OH of this tournament) she was the one who sucked less. At least her passing and serve were decent.

Honest question, do people still have faith in Ipar? Girl is 21 already, not even a starter at Stanford and her u22 performance was pretty average honestly.

Quote from Copravolley22

This year we aren`t as dominant in the juniors as in 2022: 3 golds then but I prefer such a distribution and triumphs in the seniors level than the other way around. And so we are the only team from Europe this year to stand on the podium in 3 competitions in the younger categories: 1 gold in u22 - 1 silver in u20- 1 bronze in u18. The most important thing is that 1-2 players from this age group break through to the seniors in a few years. Medals are just an addition and great fun. Whether Turkey won today 3-2 or Italy 3-2 will not matter in a few years.

Well whereas that is true, if you consider that this team is missing Lisa Esposito (OH, starter in the WCH19, injured) and Safa (not sure why she wasnt included, she was the setter for the WEVZA u20 tournament earlier this year).

Now, from this team Linda is an absolute talent. Her slide is probably one of the best in the world and her hybrid serve is pretty good. Just need to refine it and get better at blocking.

Merit is also another good talent. She might've not had the best tournament but let's hope that in Imoco she can improve.

I was most impressed by Bosso. For me, she was the best OH of this tournament and has all it takes to be an all around player.

Quote from Aro

You have a point, however the part of the game that I was watching (I was keep going back watching other sport) Italy was making mistakes collectively, where as Turkiye had #17 who was making quite a lot of errors when attacking or receiving. Maybe I shouldn’t have judge her too harshly, maybe she was off this game.

Lol Safranova was even worse. Her attack efficiency was really bad, making more errors and getting blocked more than the points she scored. But was kept bc has a better pass and good serve.

Dream team:

S: Dilay Özdemir
OPP: Beren Yeşilırmak

OH: Maria Teresa Bosso, Liza Safronova

MB: Linda Manfredini, Yana Wouters

L: Anna Bardaro

MVP: Dilay Özdemir

Quote from Aro

I watched Turkiye vs Italy CEV U20 Championship game. Congrats to Turkiye!!! But I think Turkiye made it so difficult for themselves. Producing quality OH unfortunately is not an easy task for Turkiye. Their OH (#17) was an error prone, if she was half more decent and faster, Turkiye would have much easier time winning the game. Looks like Italy have another great Opp on the pipe.

There is not ifs. It's like saying if Italy hadn't made so many errors in attack and serve or if the setter had been good in this match, Italy would've won it as they only lost in blocks but had the advantage in attack and serve.

Unfortunately, Merit didn't have a good performance in the finals and honestly her performance was just okay compared to what was expected of her but can't really blame her as many of the sets to her were horrendous.

Quote from fire_cai_bin

rumors from turkish twt accounts that were reposted on weibo:

1. CVA looking at Lavarini and Guidetti

2. VB looking at LYY.

Noooo. How could LYY prefer to be trained by Guidetti than playing alongside Egonu.

Quote from Madden54

I agree idk what to do anymore. I have one more week before I move into my new school but no work right now until then so the Olympics were filling in the time and now I have nothing to do this week lol. Can we get some post Olympic friendlies or something LOL

Go watch the U20 Euro Women's. Serbia isn't doing well though. It's currently ranked 5th and most likely won't make it to the semis but still. I like watching the U tournaments to see the emerging talent.

Quote from runnerupster

This was such a good OG if you ask me btw, it was so much fun to watch (I mean the whole event besides volleyball) Paris did a good job and I will miss having so many watches all day 😭

For viewers I agree but I saw many athletes complaining. Not sure to what extend that is true.

Why do I feel that volleySrb is actually Uzelac undercover. Like she said the exact same things about Italy. Like girl, before bashing teams and believing you're the best, put that time into getting better and improving.

Quote from Account

Duda and Ana Patricia were flag bearers from Brazil;

I saw Julia B either. I had the impression of seen De Genaro

I love Julia's reel entering the security checkpoint with her medal.

Quote from volleySrb

Club competition is irrelevant. Much less watched, and much less teams involved. In the last 10 years is 2,3 teams more or less and Egonu always played in the dream team.

Also VNL is joke. Nobody care about VNL, maybe 2,3 countries, this last VNL that Italy one, rest of the teams played even more casual than usual.

Lol. It is so irrelevant that Boskovic's dream is to win the CL (besides from gold in OG). Winning a CL, I would argue, is more difficult. At NT you play with what you have whereas at a club level, these team, especially the big ones equipped themselves with the best of the best. Like that VB of 2021, with Rasic, Gabi, Haak, Gunes, MBH, etc. would possibly beat the crap out of any team rn.

Quote from Sassy

Just finished watching the game back, wooooohoooooooo

I'm so happy to see that Italy looked quite dominant throughout the whole match. Their eyes screamed "we're not gonna lose this". Great team effort with the subs coming in and fighting to keep every ball in play. I can't believe we almost won a set from them lol. Special shoutout to my faves Carlotta and Gaia They showed that you don't need to be in a top club to reach the top. Yes, Gaia being in was bc of Pietrini & Degradi's injury, but still her contributions were great. I hope young/talented players are watching to choose being a starter over benchwarmer.

I couldn't agree more with this. Degradi is another example. She played for Megabox as a full time starter and was one of the best OH (not only Italian) in the league.

Even Velasco mentioned how this was an important factor when putting together the roster. That the girls actually played dur8ng the club season rather than just saying on the bench.

Quote from VBdiamond

It was on a turkish page on Instagram. It looked like some kind of tabloid official page. Maybe the translating was wrong. It said Zehra went to hospital after the semifinal and Cansu said she was ready to make the roster in her place. I didn't watch the bronze medal game...

It was actually Santarelli who mentioned this in an interview.

Quote from Aro

Congrats to Italy, well deserved! Looking back from the beginning of VNL, Italy was on a mission, they have prepared for the OG so well that, that should be a lesson to other teams.

I can’t see the future, but my educated guess tells me that USA will always be fighting for the top, we have a very good college league and now with the professional league as well, USA will be fighting for the gold in LA 2028. Knowing how Ana C plays plus their young MBs, I am not worried about Brazil, they will be fighting for the podium as well.

For Europe you have those three nations who will be fighting for the top spot. Italy, Turkiye and Serbia. Compare Italy for this year vs. last year. Last year they were in limbo, disorganized, etc. vs this year they highly organized, focused, etc. Funny that was exactly the opposite of what happened to Turkiye. It is all in preparation. Look at the first week of VNL where Egonu, Fahr, etc were taking care of their injuries and not playing games vs Zehra, Ilkin, and Hande, they were all playing instead of taking care of their bodies. And at the end it was Egonu, Fahr palyed the best whereas Zehra, Hande couldn’t played. However, the future is bright for them, Vargas is only 24, same with Hande, Zehra, Elif, beside Erdem they are all young plus they have more young players coming up. I wouldn’t be surprised if they win the next year’s VNL. Same with Serbia, I wrote it here that why Serbia wasn’t playing with their A team in VNL at least from the second week and on to get prepared for the OG. It’s all in preparations.

I am not familiar with Asian teams, but I would think China and Japan will always put a good team for the next OG.

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Technically this isn't true. The whole reason why they weren't playing is because they played club season until the very last day, with both Milano and Conegliano playing in the CL finals. But Velasco was very clear since the beggining that the full squad was going to play since week 2, especially because the ticket for the OG was at stake (not really but they wanted to be is the best position possible ranking wise to qualify).

But one thing he didn't do is play players who were injured. But in the case of Turkey, given that the first week of VNL was there they love to make their stars play. Also the pressure of repeating the same success as last year's could've factored in. But honestly the whole season son the Turkish NT wasn't properly planned. Till this day I wonder why they took Ilkin if the girl was injured most of the time and barely played, when Tugba at least could've been helpful in some rotations.