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Post by badgerbill on Nov 10, 2011 15:19:10 GMT -5
Nikki Gombar an OH from Italy, and Lara Vukosovic a 6'4 OPP/MB from France.
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Post by ay2013 on Nov 10, 2011 15:38:00 GMT -5
If any of these players can be a Jerkov for the bears, expect Cal to be final four quality for years to come.
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Post by nativevolley on Nov 10, 2011 15:48:20 GMT -5
I think you got their positions mixed up. However there is video on youtube. See for yourself.
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Post by hammer on Nov 10, 2011 16:00:52 GMT -5
Cal couldn't just sit still with the class that Stanford is bringing in. They went back to their tried and true foreign pipeline:
BERKELEY - Head coach Rich Feller and California volleyball staff added two talented recruits to their singing class that brings immense volleyball talent as well as an international flavor to Berkeley. Nikki Gombar out of Italy and Lara Vukasovic from Croatia signed National Letters of Intent, Feller announced Thursday.
"We're very excited about Nikki and Lara joining our program," Feller said. "We'll benefit from their volleyball skills, and they will both add culturally to our team as well."
Gombar hails from Rome and has dual citizenship in Italy and the United States.
"Nikki has shown by her contributions to the Italian youth national volleyball program what she is capable of doing on an international scale," Feller said. "She is one of the top young players in the country."
An outside hitter, Feller notes Gombar has tremendous athletic ability and volleyball awareness.
"I chose Cal because it is the perfect match for me," Gombar said. "Cal has a superior academic reputation in engineering, which I intend to major in. I'm very excited about the opportunity to play in a terrific Pac-12 volleyball program under Rich Feller."
Vukasovic will fit seamlessly into the Cal rotation in either the back or front row. Born in France, she is a dual citizen of France and Croatia.
"Lara is a tall, very athletic, all-purpose player," Feller said. "She can play any of the front row positions and is very comfortable in the back row. She's one of the top players in her country."
Vukasovic is third in a line of Croatian Golden Bears with Hana Cutura and Mia Jerkov paving the way. All three families are connected and the student-athletes competed against and with each other.
"I chose Cal because of its great academic and athletic levels," Vukasovic said. "I also love the many opportunities it provides to students, the location and climate, and because I love its history."
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Post by midnightblue on Nov 10, 2011 16:13:39 GMT -5
Saw the Italian play on youtube.. I think they could have found everything I saw here in the states...
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Post by memorybankrupt on Nov 10, 2011 16:14:09 GMT -5
Neat. I hope the passing stabilizes next season (and this season too).
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Post by nativevolley on Nov 10, 2011 16:16:38 GMT -5
Saw the Italian play on youtube.. I think they could have found everything I saw here in the states... For some reason I was thinking the same thing.
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Post by sirtrojan on Nov 10, 2011 17:36:05 GMT -5
Congratulations to Cal. I don't know anything about these two players. It will be interesting to see if they turn out to be impact players. There are many players from Europe distributed throughout teams in the U.S. Some are relatively good although almost no player is in the same league as Cutura.
It is a little surprising Feller felt it necessary to recruit from overseas after having made it to the NC match last season. Did Feller actively scout Europe for players or did these two fall into his lap?
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Post by gocalbears on Nov 10, 2011 17:46:35 GMT -5
FINALLY. Feller knows his international recruits... can't wait to see them at Cal!
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Post by gocalbears on Nov 10, 2011 17:48:33 GMT -5
sirtrojan... cal has 4 recruits next year, including 3 who will most likely be in the top 20 rankings including an incredible libero from SoCal (Steve Kerr's daughter). I don't think he felt it was necessary... but if the right players are available, heck why not? It said in the article Lara was connected to both Jerkov and Cutura, if I recall Jerkov helped bring Cutura to Cal. I like this connection
USC and Cal will have some great battles the next four years... congrats on whooping Cal twice this year!
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Post by dd2000 on Nov 10, 2011 17:59:12 GMT -5
I love seeing foreign players on US college teams. Good for Cal.
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Post by jgrout on Nov 10, 2011 19:15:54 GMT -5
Though Čutura was an excellent player, I hope as a Stanford fan that Cal never signs anyone as good as Jerkov, who was a complete six-rotation player on both offense and defense; I've spoken before about the total offensive meltdown Cal had at Maples several seasons ago in the three rotations with Čutura in the back row. Because Coach Feller's recruiting has steadily improved, Čutura had more talent around her than Jerkov, but Jerkov was still the best and most consistent Pac-10 back-row attacker that I can remember against the Card. Being willing to compare a Pac-10/Pac-12 player to Kerri Walsh is about the highest praise I can give, and Jerkov was up there in that area with Walsh.
It was a terrible misfortune for Coach Feller, the Bears and Jerkov herself that she was ordered home by the Croatian volleyball federation and kept long enough (I believe more than two semesters, not counting summer semester) for her to lose her remaining athletic eligibility for lack of academic progress. I believe Cal appealed this summary termination (by rule) of Jerkov's eligibility to an NCAA appeals board and lost.
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Post by gocalbears on Nov 10, 2011 19:59:20 GMT -5
Jerkov is the best volleyball player to ever play at Cal. She may not have the NPOY like Lloyd but when she was on... oh my. I remember in 2002 against the the Washington's when she racked up 39 kills against UDUB, than came back and had 38 against WSU. 2:23... thought you might enjoy another Jerkov backrow attack
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Post by BearClause on Nov 11, 2011 0:59:06 GMT -5
It was a terrible misfortune for Coach Feller, the Bears and Jerkov herself that she was ordered home by the Croatian volleyball federation and kept long enough (I believe more than two semesters, not counting summer semester) for her to lose her remaining athletic eligibility for lack of academic progress. I believe Cal appealed this summary termination (by rule) of Jerkov's eligibility to an NCAA appeals board and lost. It was more complicated than that. The Croatian VB federation pretty much ordered her to play on a Russian pro team in order to prepare for international competition in the future. She didn't get paid, but since it was clear that most of her teammates were paid, that would have been a big blow for her chances to remain eligible. I saw her on the street in Berkeley during the summer of 2004, but she was just there for summer sessions. From what I understand, Cal didn't even try to petition the NCAA, since Mia just went back to Europe after summer session ended. She did come back in 2007 in order to finish her degree at Cal, which was paid for by the athletic department. I saw her at the 2008 Cal VB banquet talking to Hana.
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Post by baywatcher on Nov 11, 2011 1:28:34 GMT -5
One of the other VTalk contributors mentioned once that the VTalker had discussed Mia with a ref, presumably an up ref, who said some very complimentary things about Jerkov being the best seen from the back row, or something like that. I thought that memorable because a) you don't hear evaluations from refs and b) a very interesting perspective.
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