Europeans Abroad: Nwakalor delivers 40 points in Japan

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

Italian opposite Sylvia Nwakalor had her best performance to date in the Japanese V. League and helped her team Toray Arrows secure an important road win over the Kurobe AquaFairies on Saturday.

The Italian, who moved to the Japanese League this season, produced an impressive 40 points (39 kills, one block) as the Arrows secured a four-set road victory. Turkish outside hitter Derya Cebecioğlu scored 16 points for the AquaFairies – she contributed another four in a five-set loss to the NEC Red Rockets on Sunday.

Also celebrating victories in the V. League this week were Serbian outside hitter Sara Lozo, who registered 12 points as her team Saitama Ageo Medics overcame the Denso Airybees in three sets on the road, and Belgian opposite Lise Van Hecke, who contributed 15 points as the Toyota Auto Body Queenseis swept Hitachi Astemo Rivale.

In the men’s league, Russian Olympic champion opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy led his team Suntory Sunbirds to back-to-back four-set victories over the Toray Arrows of Hungarian opposite Krisztián Pádár. Muserskiy scored 68 points across both matches, against 47 of Pádár.

Polish national team captain Bartosz Kurek also had a successful weekend in Japan, leading his team Wolfdogs Nagoya to consecutive home wins against Voreas Hokkaido. The Polish superstar produced 23 points on Saturday, when his team secured a 3-1 victory, and added another 21 on Sunday, when they prevailed in three sets.

China 

In China, the great production of two European players kept Shanghai Bright as the only team to have not dropped a set after three matches in the country’s men’s league. With 19 points from Serbian opposite Aleksandar Atanasijević and another ten from Polish outside hitter Michał Kubiak, they topped Fujian in straight sets on Sunday.

Also undefeated, the Hebei Baoding counted on 20 points from Serbian outside hitter Lazar Ćirović and 13 from Belarusian outside hitter Artur Udrys to overcome Jiangsu Nanjing BS Maomao in four sets.

In the women’s league, Serbian outside hitter Brankica Mihajlović was among the top scorers of the weekend, firing 26 points as her team Liaoning Tengda topped Jiangxi Shangrao Aofei 3-1 on the road – Bulgarian middle blocker Hristina Vuchkova added 11 points to the winners while Slovenian middle blocker Saša Planinšec produced nine to the losing side.

Shenzhen Zhongsai also heavily relied on European production to triumph this week as they got 20 points from Serbian outside hitter Jelena Blagojević and 19 from Dutch opposite Iris Scholten to sweep Guangdong Jiangmen Huati.

United Arab Emirates

After three weeks of action, Shabab Alahli are the only undefeated team in the United Arab Emirates Men’s League and sit at the top of the standings with nine points. This week, the team of Latvian opposite Hermans Egleskalns and Russian outside hitter Vyacheslav Tarasov defeated Hatta Club of Serbian outside hitter Marko Radosavljević and Russian outside hitter Viktor Sysoev in three sets.

Second-placed Al Jazira Sport Club have seven points (two wins and one loss) and three Europeans in their squad – Polish Oskar Vesin (setter) and Jakub Ziobrowski (opposite) and Italian Alessandro Preti (outside hitter). This week, they overcame Ajman Sports Club of Slovenian setter Jan Brulec and Polish opposite Bartosz Krzysiek 3-1.