Europeans Abroad: Muserskiy shines at the start of the V. League
News
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.
Japan
The Japanese V-League began over the weekend, with four men’s matches kicking off the season in the country – the women will get on the court for the first time next weekend. Three of those encounters had European players as the leading scorers.
Russian Olympic champion opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy was the individual standout of the weekend in Japan, ending the round with 62 points and leading his Suntory Sunbirds team to back-to-back wins over the Tokyo Great Bears.
On Saturday, the Sunbirds counted on 25 points (22 kills, three blocks) from the Russian star to win 3-1 (16-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-17). On Sunday, in a five-set match, Muserskiy improved his production to an impressive 37 points (36 kills, one blocks) as the Sunbirds prevailed 3-2 (18-25, 25-23, 25-18, 21-25, 15-13).
Hungarian opposite Krisztián Pádár also started the season well, but his 44 points weren’t enough for his team Toray Arrows to get wins. Pádár was the top scorer on Saturday, when his team fell to the Osaka Sakai Blazers 3-1 with 25 points (24 kills, one block) and added another 19 (17 kills, two blocks) on Sunday, when the Arrows were downed in straight sets.
Korea
Korea was another country to start its club season this weekend as the V-League got going with two men’s and two women’s matches. All three European players involved in those encounters had great performances and two of them played big roles in their teams’ success.
In the women’s tournament, two Europeans were on opposite sides on Saturday with Bosnian opposite Jelena Mladenović and her team Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders facing Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass, who have Serbian opposite Vanja Bukilić in their squad.
The two Europeans led their teams on the court and Mladenović, who scored 20 points (17 kills, two blocks, one ace), helped the Pink Spiders win 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-16). Bukilić, who played her first match in the Korean League, scored 12 points (11 kills, one block) for Gimcheon.
In the men’s tournament, Slovenian Matej Kök also had a memorable debut in the Korean League on Sunday. The 26-year-old outside hitter got 29 points as his team Seoul Woori Card topped the Daejeon Samsung Bluefangs in four sets (25-17, 25-19, 18-25, 25-19) in their first match in the season.