Europeans Abroad: Europeans in the Final Four in the USA

European volleyball players are spread all over the world during the 2023-2024 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.

USA

Five European players will appear in the semifinals of the inaugural edition of the American Pro Volleyball Federation League, which will take place this week, with the semifinals on Wednesday and the final on Saturday, in Omaha.

Having Czech middle blocker Magdalena Jehlářová and Russian opposite Anna Lazareva in their squad, the Atlanta Vibe finished first in the regular season and will meet fourth-placed Grand Rapids Rise, who have Bulgarian opposite Emiliya Dimitrova as one of their key players.

The second semifinal will feature the second-placed Omaha Supernovas of Bulgarian middle blocker Hristina Vuchkova and the third-placed San Diego Mojo of Italian outside hitter Valeria Papa.

Qatar

Police Union was the first team to secure a spot in the Qatari Emir Cup Finals this season. The team of Dutch outside hitter Dick Kooy and Austrian opposite Paul Buchegger defeated national champions Al Arabi S.C. of Hungarian opposite Krisztián Pádár and Montenegrin outside hitter Bojan Djukić by two matches to zero in the semifinals to advance.

The second semifinal series, involving Al Rayyan S.C. of Serbian setter Miloš Stevanović, Estonian opposite Oliver Venno and Russian outside hitter Dmitriy Volkov, and Qatar S.C. of Russian opposite Evgenii Tiurin, Montenegrin libero Andrija Joksimović and Russian outside hitter Denis Kochnev, is tied with one win for each side and a third and final match will be needed.

Indonesia

European players were among the top scorers in the second week of action in the Indonesian women’s Proliga as several players from the continent had productive performances in their matches.

Playing for Jakarta Elektrik, Azeri opposite Katerina Zhidkova tallied 27 points in a 3-1 loss to Jakarta BIN on Thursday. Her compatriot Polina Rahimova also did well, firing 19 points as her team Gresik Petrokimia defeated Jakarta Livin Mandiri 3-0 on Friday – Ukrainian outside hitter Bogdana Anisova scored 17 points for the winners.

Russian outside hitter Irina Voronkova had not one, but two solid showings with Jakarta Popsivo Polwan, producing 17 points in a 3-0 win over Bandung Tandamata on Thursday and following it up 22 in another sweep on Saturday, this one against Jakarta Livin Mandiri.

In the first encounter, the Russian star faced two other European players, Belarusian outside hitter Hanna Davyskiba, who scored 17 points, and Serbian opposite Jovana Brakočević, who contributed 12.