Europeans Abroad: Polish stars shine in the Japanese V. League
News
European volleyball players are spread all over the world during the 2022-2023 club season, playing big roles in their teams. Many of them are currently away from the continent, competing in some of the top leagues on the planet, and we’ll help you follow their journeys by providing periodic updates on how they’re doing.
Japan
Longtime Polish national team teammates Bartosz Kurek and Michał Kubiak had productive weeks in Japan, leading their teams Wolfdogs Nagoya and Panasonic Panthers to back-to-back victories in the country’s V. League.
Kurek, a 2018 world champion, came up big for the defending champions Wolfdogs on Saturday, registering 34 points (32 kills, two blocks) in a five-set victory against the Osaka Sakai Blazers. On Sunday, his team had a more dominant performance, winning in three sets against the same opponents with 26 points (24 kills, two blocks) from Kurek.
Kubiak, who was with the Polish national in their victories at both the 2014 and 2018 World Championships and celebrated his 35th birthday on Thursday, produced 11 points (nine kills, one block, one ace) as the Panthers topped the JT Thunders 3-0 on Saturday. The next day, when his team won in four sets, the Polish outside hitter improved his production to 15 points (11 kills, one block, three aces).
On the women’s tournament, Belgian outside hitter Lise van Hecke and Turkish outside hitter Neriman Özsoy also had perfect weekends with the Hisamitsu Springs and the Denso Airybees respectively.
Van Hecke, who’s in her first season with the Springs, had 16 points (all in kills) on Saturday, when her team defeated the Toyota Auto Body Queenseis. On Sunday, the Belgian came up even bigger, tallying 20 points (19 kills, one block) in a five-set victory against the NEC Red Rockets.
Özsoy, who’s also a first-year player with the Airybees, produced 15 points (14 kills, one block) on Saturday in a 3-0 victory against the Kurobe Aqua Fairies of fellow Turkish Tugba Senoglu, who had eight points (all in kills). On Sunday, the Turkish scored 22 points (19 kills, two blocks, one ace) as the Airybees topped the PFU Blue Cats also in three sets.
Indonesia
The Indonesian Pro Liga had the start of its Final Four for men and women this week and two teams led by European players went undefeated in their first two matches of the round in Gresik.
In the women’s league, Turkish opposite Ceren Kapucu guided Bandung BJB to a pair of victories. On Thursday, the 29-year-old European registered 21 points as her team prevailed over the Jakarta BIN in five sets. On Sunday, her team was involved in another tie-breaker, this one against hosts Gresik Petrokimia, and counted on 25 points from Kapucu to prevail.
The top scorer of that encounter was Petrokimia’s Ukrainian outside hitter Bogdana Anisova, who tallied impressive 35 points. She also led the team in their 3-1 victory over the Jakarta Pertamina on Friday with 23 points.
Among the men, Bulgarian outside hitter Rozalin Penchev helped his team Jakarta STIN BIN have great success at the start of the round. On Thursday, he had a 20-point performance in a five-set victory against the Jakarta Bhayangkara. Two days later, Penchev added 12 as his team swept the Surabaya Bin Satamor to complete a perfect first week of play in the Final Four.