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Post by ToddyJ on Apr 25, 2019 1:57:41 GMT -5
Gibby, Robinson, Larson, Bartsch, Carlini, Lloyd, Hill, Lowe, Wilhite, Rivers, Papp, and Ogbogu are still in playoffs or in the finals of their respective leagues.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2019 2:15:20 GMT -5
Week 1 could see a very interesting travel roster. With Carlini, Bartsch, Hill and Lowe playing in CHL Finals in Berlin a lot of the OH roster will need to be filled. Also with Jordan having her nagging foot injury she too could/should be on hold until the finals. I’ll bet we see the following week 1 travel roster: S: Hancock, Poulter MB: Ogbogu, Rettke, Washington, Dixon OH: Courtney, Foecke, Lee, Wilhite Opp: Drews, Cuttino L: Lake, Akiu More of a hope than a reality I’m sure. Plus the pool is in Bulgaria so in reality all of the CHL big guns could just fly over and link up with the team but will have had no time to train. Either way....I think the USA will win the pool but the matches could be close. I don’t totally hate this lineup idea... but I do think we could drop a match. And...? Why is this a bad thing?
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Post by ironhammer on Apr 25, 2019 2:35:25 GMT -5
I don’t totally hate this lineup idea... but I do think we could drop a match. And...? Why is this a bad thing? Did he say this was a bad thing?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2019 2:40:06 GMT -5
Wisconsin starts team practices before their Europe trip on May 20, and the NT will already be in Bulgaria at that point. Like I said before, I think Rettke being "named" to the 30-person "roster" was another breadcrumb tossed to fans by the NT staff.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2019 2:57:32 GMT -5
I think the young roster will be good for the first week of VNL play, Bulgaria, Belgium and Japan? Perfect intro to all of these players. because none of the 3 are worldwide powerhouses truthfully, I would begin to question youth when getting to Italy, Turkey, Serbia, China, etc.
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Post by jay on Apr 25, 2019 3:29:59 GMT -5
Has anybody found data from last year that shows the cut-off number of points to qualify to go to the next round I read that this year it's a gigantic pool and that the top X number of teams will advance. Does anyone have a link that shows the details of the different rounds and the qualification requirements and how points might affect seeding.
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Post by ToddyJ on Apr 25, 2019 6:50:38 GMT -5
Has anybody found data from last year that shows the cut-off number of points to qualify to go to the next round I read that this year it's a gigantic pool and that the top X number of teams will advance. Does anyone have a link that shows the details of the different rounds and the qualification requirements and how points might affect seeding. The tournament set up is the same as last year. 16 teams play in a single round-robin tournament with 4 pools per week played over 5 weeks. At the end the top 5 teams and hosts China make the finals in Nanjing. Last year it was USA, Serbia, Brazil, Netherlands and Turkey in the top 5 with China down in 9th (being hosts allowed Lang Ping to really test her young players). This years tournament should be more competitive than last years as this is the one opportunity for teams to figure out their best lineups for the IOQT happening in August. This years travel schedule for the USA is better than last years. We will likely see many different travel rosters as they play in Bulgaria and Italy for the first two legs then return back home to Host the third leg before heading to China and Russia for the 4th and 5th legs respectively. It all boils down to what lineups each country will select. Once the 30 player preliminary roster is cut down to 21 those are the only players you can use through out the entire tournament. Most teams experiment with their younger players during the preliminary rounds and bring a better mix of veterans and younger talent for the Finals. USA did not do this last year. We brought our entire Olympic veteran squad for most of the tournament and won leading Karch to think that lineup was sufficient to retain their World Championship Crown. This wasn’t the case with the USA finishing 5th and failed to even make the semi’s. 2018 was a season of inconsistent play from several key players. Many of us are hoping for some major developments of the plethora of young talent we have in the gym currently. That should pretty much sum it all up.
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Post by ToddyJ on Apr 25, 2019 7:06:33 GMT -5
And...? Why is this a bad thing? Personally, I don’t think it is. But I think we all know Karch is too afraid to take the L for sake of letting players sort themselves out. I am actually counting on some more losses this year. Last year USA struggled with Serbia’s B-team (no Mihajlovic, Boskovic, Ognjenovic) in the prelims but bested the same team +Boskovic in the finals. Every game we played against Turkey went to 5 sets (1 ended in a loss) and when we played Italy there wasn’t one player from the starting 7 that dominated the WCH on the court. Many big players will be returning to their National Teams this summer (Wolosz, Vasileva, Kosheleva, Goncharova, Orthmann, Araki) to name a few. With many of the European teams prepping for the European Championships as well as the IOQT we should see a significant increase in level of play from Poland, Russia, Belgium, Germany, Italy and now we have Bulgaria in place of a weaker Argentinian team (relegated after placing last in 2018 edition). Should be a solid tournament.
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Post by ToddyJ on Apr 25, 2019 7:28:37 GMT -5
Of the 4 challenger teams (Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, Poland and Belgium) I honestly can see the Caribbean ladies getting relegated. Their first six opponents are all of the top teams in the league (China, Brazil, Russia, Italy, Serbia and USA). That could be a 0-6 start and put the teams morale at an all time low. Plus I think that all 3 other challenger teams play at a slightly higher level coming out of Europe.
My bottom 6 predictions: 11: Japan 12: Bulgaria 13: Korea 14: Belgium 15: Thailand 16: Dominican Republic
Top 5 Predictions: (With best possible rosters) 1: Italy 2: Serbia (minus Ognjenovic) 3: USA (I think we fit in here) 4: Netherlands 5: Russia (with Startseva, Kosheleva and Goncharova....it’s a different Russia)
6-9th Poland placed 8th last year with out Wolosz plus I hear rumors of some solid young hitters getting some court time. Wolosz can spin straw into gold IMHO. Should be fun.
Brazil will have some firepower back in their lineup and they always do well in this tournament but I just don’t see them getting a ton better plus they are dropping players like flies.
Turkey could break the top 5 but they proved to fall flat against stiffer competition during the WCH. So we shall see where they end up.
Germany loses Maren Fromm but gains Hannah Orthmann a promising young OH. So they should at least do as well as last year.
China could (pending lineup) place 1st but I don’t see JLP neglecting these development opportunities. So it really doesn’t matter where they place. I’ve already stated that I feel it is unfair for the same country to host this tournament back to back years let alone three years running. But it all boils down to money and a country’s willingness to host.
Just some thoughts as I lay here dying of plague (sinus infection) on a lovely Thursday morning 🥺🤓☺️
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2019 9:02:06 GMT -5
European Teams will prioritize the OG QF and European Championship. They never play their best at VNL-GP.
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Post by ToddyJ on Apr 25, 2019 9:10:35 GMT -5
European Teams will prioritize the OG QF and European Championship. They never play their best at VNL-GP. Oh yeah for sure. I just meant that this years VNL level of play will be elevated from last years.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2019 9:56:53 GMT -5
Serbia for VNL.
S: Maja Ognjenović, Slađana Mirković, Aleksandra Ćirović, Mila Đorđević, Emilija Antanasijević
OPP: Tijana Bošković, Ana Bjelica, Sara Lozo, Milica Kubura, Sara Carić
L: Silvija Popović, Teodora Pušić, Marija Popović, Aleksandra Tadić, Bojana Gočanin
MB: Milena Rašić, Stefana Veljković, Jovana Stevanović, Maja Aleksić, Mina Popović, Maja Savić, Jovana Kocić, Sara Vučićević
OH: Brankica Mihajlović, Jelena Blagojević, Bjanka Buša, Bojana Milenković, Katarina Lazović, Katarina Jović, Milica Tasić, Mina Mijatović, Ana Pejičić
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Post by alohavball on Apr 25, 2019 13:11:04 GMT -5
Interesting, neither Bojana Zivkovic nor Ana Antonijevic are listed.
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Post by ToddyJ on Apr 25, 2019 21:18:48 GMT -5
Interesting, neither Bojana Zivkovic nor Ana Antonijevic are listed. Another notable abscence is Tijana Malesevic.
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Post by alohavball on Apr 27, 2019 17:53:02 GMT -5
Not sure how true this is, but I read a rumor that 6 out of the 14 players for each weekly roster needs to be from WCH 2018. Can anybody clarify?
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