“We hoped that this was only a rumor, but we recently got confirmation from trustful sources. We are baffled by what transpired last night in our arena, when fans insulted our captain Filippo Lanza. We do not understand if these people have some mental problems (it could be), but we believe that attacking a player on a personal level because you lost a game is not acceptable. Only beasts criticize every mistake and insults a team when things go wrong.
Curva Gislimberti is not associated to these attitudes and condemns all these people for the s*** behavior expressed towards our player, who first of all, is a human being who has given so much to Trentino in the last 12 years, first as a youth player, and now our captain.
We are talking about a team that in the last 15 league games won 13 of them and which qualified for the Champions League playoffs with 1 game in advance. Every now and then we think that people have got used to success, and do not remember how it was to play for salvation from relegation on the last day, to rejoice for a single set won at Palaverde, or to think about the excitement of having a team in A1. All this is now taken for granted. But if one day this is not be anymore, people will regret it, because they are missing their chance to see great volleyball.
For our part, we will continue to support the boys from beginning to end. Because of this, certainly there will be comments on the games where we will say that we liked something or not, but we will always be there with them, and we will always invite more people to come with us to encourage the boys more and more.”
To those who want to continue insulting players or staff we invite them to do one thing: STAY AT HOME.
The Curva Gislimberti directive”
Here is what Lanza commented on the matter:
“I begin my message by apologizing. Sorry, because on Thursday evening I gave importance to what some people had to say, without valuing true friends. What I gave to Trento remains less than what I received from Trento. Excuse me, because it is not of me to go away without saying goodbye to those who have always supported me in good and bad luck. I have always shown everything to you all and I am proud of it because you are and you will be my family. I thank you for suffering with us and for defending us in times of need, I thank you for accepting us and supporting us with perseverance and suffering.
Thanks (with swollen eyes). I would like to also thank those people who criticized my performance, because you made me understand how much I want to be with all the others. Grateful to everyone and ready for the next challenge! #forzatrento # unsoloamore # curvagislimberti.”
Trentino currently sits in 4th place of A1’s standings with a 16-7 record. It has already guaranteed a playoffs spot in Champions League play.
Bulgaria’s hosting of the 2018 FIVB Men’s World Championship is captivating the opinions of most of the country’s former athletes. Mila Kiosseva is one of such legends. One of the most decorated Bulgarian volleyball players of all time, she won an European Championship with the national team and two Europeans Cups with iconic Bulgarian club CSKA. She talked about the condition of the sport in her native country on an interview available on Sportal.bg. Here is an excerpt of her most important comments.
“We are a bit far from the European standard of volleyball. If we are not ready to become European champions, we need at least to get closer to the top. First, I think we are not successful because our good athletes are scattered. At the time when we became European champions, we all played in Bulgaria, competed with each other, and we went to many tournaments. Now somehow the contestants are scattered around the world. In my opinion, there is less teamwork than when we played. Less are the opportunities to be together. Second, other countries have advanced too much. We, as a small country, must also be happy with what we are doing now
We have good coaches in Bulgaria, but we need a little more information about what is being done around the world. My hope is that this will happen soon, but I do not know if it will happen.
We have very good athletes. The problem is that we can not go out and show our capabilities when the game is important. We did not play poorly at the European level this past season. We just lost matches that we should not have lost. We have very good headquarters, distributors are also not bad. We have a good team, we just have to be able to win when things get important.”
The Bulgarian Men’s national team is currently ranked 14th in FIVB’s senior rankings, while the women are a bit worse at 17th place.
Brazil is living one of the most important political moments of its history. Bathed in a sea of corruption, the country’s government is being constantly questioned by the population, which itself is fighting to lose its pejorative identity of corrupt behavior, also known as “the Brazilian way.”
As it is be expected, this has carried over to sports. The latest example came in Sesc/Rj’s 3-1 victory over Lebes/Canoas. Sesc led the game 2-1, when at the end of the tied fourth set, 23-all, the referees called out on a Canoas hit that had clearly touched the block, giving Sesc a 24-23 lead. This caused a lot of protests from Canoas‘ players and technical staff, which prompted the head referee to give the team a red card, which awarded a point to Sesc and closed out the set and the game.
TV replay showed that Canoas was right, the ball had indeed touched the block, and what was to be a 24-23 lead for Canoas, allowing it to fight for a tie-break, went on to become the end of the game. All fans present at the arena started to yell “Thieves, thieves, thieves!” at the referees, and Canoas‘ coach Marcel Matz had himself to prevent some fans from storming the court.
The protests continued on social media, as Canoas stated in its official twitter that “it was a disgrace for the game to end like that, but it was to be expected, as it is common for small market teams to be cheated on TV games.” The team’s manager, Olympic gold medalist Gustavo Endres, took it a step further, re-tweeting messages condemning Sesc player João Rafael for not accusing himself of touching the ball at the block. His supposed attitude of not admitting his fault won him heavy criticism on social media, as fans stated that he could have prevented the chaos that ensured during the game. A lot of people commented on the fact that if even athletes are corrupt, the government can be no different, and they made sure to spam Rafael’s personal accounts with disapproving messages.
However, by the day’s end, the story got even more complex, as some of Canoas‘ player took to Instagram to support João Rafael, stating that he indeed accused himself, but the referees were too proud to go back in their ruling.
Whatever really happened in those moments of the game, we will probably never know. Regardless, it is safe to say it painted a very ugly picture for the thousands of fans on the stands and the millions watching at home:
The club penned an emotional chronicle in its official website recalling its Cinderella run:
“Once upon a time ……
Yes, all tales start more or less like that. What we are about to tell you is a beautiful story, although we are not talking about Snow White or Cinderella, but Battistelli Volley.
On a Sunday in February that will remain in history for San Giovanni in Marignano, the team of Coach Saja, in one of the temples of sport, Paladozza of Bologna, surpassed a fierce LPM BAM Mondovì, and amazed everyone by wining the A2 Italian Cup. The merits of this extraordinary victory does not go to a single player but to the entire team, a team that with stubbornness managed to reach this historic goal, working intensely day after day, facing and overcoming the difficulties presented to it along the path.
Great merit also to those of the technical and medical staff, and to the entire team that is is committed every day to ensure that the whole “machine” works best. Thanks also to all the sponsors who allowed all of this.
And they all lived happily ever after…”
Marignano, which started in Serie C in 2013, quickly rose up the ranks of Italian volleyball, being promoted to Serie B1 and then A2, and now has a real chance in April to gain promotion into Italy’s A1 league.
“The club has two fronts to worry about, the CEV Cup and Superleague. It is not impossible to do well in both, and that is Gennady Yakovlevich to joing the team. I am experienced and can help the young players and young coaching starr. However, I categorically would not like to say that I come as a savior. A team that has in is roster Sergei Tetyukhin, Alexei Obmochayev , Sergei Grankin, Dmitry Musersky, does not need savior. Aid, yes, but not saving.”
The new coach debuted this weekend as Belgorod beat Ural Ufa 3-1 (25:22, 23:25, 27:25, 25:19). He commented on his team’s performance
“I think that every time you win, you performance was, in general, not bad. As for the lost set, we are not yet ready to win games unconditionally, everyone knows how many problems the team has. Therefore, there can always be places to improve. Today everyone knew that there was a lot of tension, because if we were to win, we could take a break and concentrate only on the CEV Cup. Therefore, even the more experienced athletes had their nerves worked. I have no complaints against them. As for the lost set – which team does not suffer a blackout from time to time? Yes, it was a blackout, but I would agree to have one everygame, as long as the team would come out with the win at the end.”
With the win, Belgorod currently sits in 2d place of Superleague’s standings with a 20-4 record. It has recently announced the return of German national Gyorgy Grozer to its squad.
Social Media Round Up
Today we celebrate the birthday Vladimir Kuzyutkin! We wish him health, long life, happiness, luck and new “golden” successes in Belgorod!”
The finals of the Ukrainian Cup pitted against each other the country’s top two teams: Lviv Barkom and Kharkiv Lokomotiv. Just like last year, Barkom was able to come out on top.
As Lokomotiv and Barkom are both 1 and 2 in the national league standings, fans were expectig a very tough, well fought match-up. That is exactly what they got, at least for the match’s first set, when Barkom was able to squeak out a very close 27-25 win. Things got much easier from them on, as Barkom found absolutely no resistance from Lokomotiv to close out the next two sets at 25-19 and 25-17. Volodya Tevkun was awarded match MVP honors for his performance.
Barkom will now shift its attention on trying to defend its Ukrainian Superleague title. It’s worth noting that Barkom’s 2016-17 domestic championship win was the first time that the Ukrainian Superleague wasn’t won by Kharkiv Lokomotiv since the 2008-09 season, and only the fourth time overall since the 2001 -02 season. It’s great to see that at least for now, Ukrainian volleyball has seen a shift of power, and a rival for Kharkiv’s dominance.
The team organized in its official Instagram page for fans to receive the players as they returned by train from Cherkassy to Lviv:
Knack Roeselare defeated its biggest rival Noliko Maaseik to win its third Belgian Cup title in a row in front of 10,000 fans. Such a turnout is very uncommon for volleyball games, even at the sport’s most elite leagues.
The first set of the game was very balanced, with Roeselare only able to open up a two point lead at 15-13, but the game quickly went back to a tie again at 17-17. This was when Pieter Coolman stepped up for Roeselare, scoring two aces to help his team close the set at 25-22. In the second set, Roeselare opened up a small 10-7 lead. Maaseik’s Kamil Rychlicki had a strong service run to help his team turn the game around at 19-17. Both teams were even up until 23-23, but Roeselare committed a service error which closed the set at 25-23 for Maaseik.
The third set saw Roeselare storm out of the gates to take an early 11-7 advantage. Maaseik tried coming back into the set, coming as close as 12-13 but Roeselare’s defense was just too confident, allowing the team to comfortably close the set at 25-16. Maaseik went all or nothing at the beginning of the fourth set, knowing that it needed to win it to force a tie break. The team opened up a 6-2 lead, but wasn’t able to hold on to it, as Roeselare quickly turned things around 8-7 and then 12-8. Maaseik was able to recover and tie it at 17-all, but things imploded when it lost its top scorer Rychlicki to a muscle injury. From then on, Roeselare had the upper hand and closed the set at 25-23. Hendrik Tuerlinckx led the way with 24 points, while Jolan Cox had 16 in the losing effort.
“We were really ready for this game. The whole week we felt focused in the build-up towards this Cup final. Once again, we showed we could fight on such an important occasion. This victory feels even better than last year’s win against MAASEIK, since their opposition was tougher this time.” Roeselare’s Matthijs Verhanneman
“I am disappointed, especially since Knack ROESELARE didn’t play very well. However, that means we were even worse. This game also proves no one is the favorite for such a final, even if we were 3-0 up in our previous encounters this season.” Noliko’s captain Jelte Maan
Belogorie Belgorod has announced in its official website that is has traded its opposite hitter Maxim Zhigalov to Lokomotiv Novosibirsk in exchange for German nationalGyorgy Grozer. On a funny note, the team thanked Zhigalov for all his hard work with the team, wished him luck with his new club, and also said that it wishes him to come back after this season is over.
This trade seems to work for both teams, as Zhigalov, an European Champion with Russia’s NT in 2017, was getting close to no playing time in Belgorod, thus hindering his further development, as he is still only 27 years old, while Grozer will contribute right away for Belgorod’s championship run. Belgorod currently sits in 2d place of Superleague’s standings with a 20-4 record, while Novosibirsk sits in 6th place with a 14-10 record, so it’s safe to say both teams have different ambitions for the end of their 2017-18 season.
Grozer is currently Superleague’s 6th highest scorer, at 4.74 points per set, while also being one of the top servers and blockers of the competition. Since he is a foreign signing, Belgorod will have to relegate Bulgarian Nikolai Nikilov to playing only in the CEV Cup from now on.
This will be Grozer’s second stint in Belgorod, as in his first passage with the team he won a national title (2013), two Russian Cups (2012, 2013), two Russian Super Cups (2013, 2014), a CEV Champions League (2014), and a FIVB Club WCH (2014). He was warmly received by fans when arriving in Belogorie:
Polish volleyball fans suddenly have a reason to smile. Team Poland’s two biggest worries as it gets ready to defend its World title in FIVB’s upcoming 2018 World Championships are, even if for now, solved. The Polish federation recently namedVital Heynen as the team’s head coach after a lengthy soap opera, and now, Bartosz Kurek is back from injury and made his 2018 debut for Turkey’s Ziraat Bankisi this weekend.
Kurek started Ziraat’s game against Besiktas, played two sets, and scored 2 points on 2/3 hitting. A very slow start, much like Thaisa Daher‘srecent debut for Barueri (another international superstar who hadn’t seen the court for much of 2017), but he can only get better from here on.
“The injury I have suffered is severe, chronic and is the result of many years of playing practically without any rest. My foot now requires a moment of free and sufficiently long rehabilitation. Unfortunately, this does not work in any way on my favor, because we are in the middle of the season. But I still hope that this year I will show the fans my presennce on the courts. I believe that I will still be able to wear a Ziraat’s Jersey and I will fight for some high goals together with the team, because that’s what we are aiming at.”
Also on VolleyMob
Kurek is a two-time Olympian (London 2012 and Rio 2016), a 2009 European Champion, a gold medalist of the 2012 World League, a silver medalist of the 2011 World Cup, a bronze medalist of the 2011 World League, the 2011 European Championship and the 2015 World Cup, a three-time Polish Champion (2009, 2010, 2011), and Italian Champion (2014).
According to Polsatsport.pl, four goals were presented to Chemik Police’s coach Jakub Gluszak before the start of the 2017-18 season,: Win the Polish Championship, Cup, Supercup, and reach the playoffs of the CEV Champions League.
Even though the team currently holds a 17-1 record on the Polish Champioship and is currently CEV Champions League Group C’s second placed team, Chemik failed to win both Polish Cups. The result? The team has announced in its official website that it has parted ways with Gluszak via a “mutual agreement.” Gluszak, who had been with the team since 2014, won three Polish championships and two Polish cups in that time span. In the team’s games against Bydgoszcz and Dynamo Kazan, head coaching duties will be assumed by his former assistant, Piotr Matela.
Here is what both parties had to say of the news:
“We came to the conclusion that we needed a change. We analyzed the situation and chose this solution. With the coach, we gave each other our hands and we parted in harmony. The name of the new trainer will be given soon.” Paweł Frankowski, Chemik’s President
“I am disappointed now, but I am convinced that in a while I will be mentioning this job with a smile on my face and great fondness. I have learned a lot. I thank all fans for cheering and keeping their fingers crossed. See you in the future.” Głuszak
At only 31 years of age, Jakub Gluszak holds the distinction of being one of the youngest head coaches to act in a professional volleyball league.
Jakub Głuszak rozstaje się z Chemikiem Police. Kontrakt z byłym już trenerem naszego zespołu został rozwiązany za porozumieniem stron ?
Kuba, dziękujemy za pracę i zaangażowanie. Powodzenia w przyszłości ?
