CLVolleyW: Veterans and young talents in this Champions League edition

Young prospect Anastasia Lyashko and veteran Valentina Diouf will be protagonists of CEV Champions League upcoming season

Upcoming CEV Champions League 2023/24 will see a bunch of great players and superstars. Everybody knows Melissa Vargas, Paola Egonu or Tijana Boskovic, but the level of volleyball is the higher possible also thanks to the dozens of great players who keep the level of the game at the top.

Among all these players, there are newcomers and players who are returned to the big stage after years.

One of the more interesting prospects in this Champions League edition is Anastasia Lyashko, 18 year old middle blocker from Russia.
Lyashko inked with French team Volero Le Cannet last June, coming from Russian team Tulitsa Tula, after being discovered by Le Cannet scouts.
She’s a powerful middle blocker of 197 cm, who’s finding space and time in Ligue A with Volero Le Cannet despite the young age, so it seems she could be one of the outsiders of this upcoming Champions League Pool phase.

Champions League is the Volleyball main stage in Europe and in the world, and will not be easy for the young Russian middle blocker to step up and put on court some impressive performances, but the 18 year old prospect has strength, talent and personality to stay among the top players of the tournament. 

Valentina Diouf has already returned in Champions League, playing also in last CL season with LKS Commercecon Lodz, but could be important to remark the continuity she’s expressing on the court in last two season at the top world level.
Valentina turned 30 in 2023, but she’s used to be on the top Volleyball courts since 2011. After the debut on the European main stages at a very young age with italian powerhouse Foppapedretti Bergamo, she became one of the top opposites in Europe, by earning several awards, as Italian Supercup MVP in 2014 (with Bergamo), Best Opposite in Champions League in 2015 and CEV Cup MVP in 2017, both these last trophies with UYBA Busto Arsizio.

After that, she has chosen to play in Brasil with Volei Bauru, helping the team to win the Brasilian Paulista Championship, then flying to Korea signing a contract with KGC Ginseng Daejeon in the V-League, playing there for two seasons, until 2021. A season stint with Wealth Planet Perugia in Italian League (the team wasn’t able to avoid the relegation in Italian Serie A2), and in 2022 she received the call from Lodz, where Valentina found back her strength and continuity, playing a great season in both Champions League and Polish League. This upcoming CEV Champions League season will be the final achievement for her definitive comeback at the top level of volleyball.

Young middle blocker Anastasia Lyashko and veteran opposite Valentina Diouf will be protagonists of the upcoming CEV Champions League tournament.