Treviso, Italy, April 21, 2017. The CEV Champions League - Women Final Four in Treviso brings Volleyball fans the opportunity not only to see the best club Volleyball in Europe, but also a chance to get closer to their idols. Two finalists, Imoco Volley’s outside spiker Kelsey Robinson and opposite from VakifBank ISTANBUL Lonneke Slöetjes, agreed to be first ever players to take over CEV social media channels on Friday afternoon. Using hashtag #AskKelsey or #AskLonneke fans were able to ask anything they wanted to know about the players. Both players tried their best to answer as many fans across Twitter and Instagram.
The first to take over social media action was Kelsey Robinson. The player came to Italy straight from China, where she played in Beijing for the first part of the club season. She joined Imoco Volley at the beginning of the year to compete in both the Italian national championship and Champions League. Now, ahead of the most important part of this season, she couldn't hide her excitement. “I am so excited about this weekend! I have never played in Champions League final before,” she mentioned when she began reading through questions.
While keeping main focus on the upcoming tournament Robinson appreciated the idea of social media takeover. “I think it’s a great idea. It helps us reach those fans, who can’t always attend the events themselves and thank them for support in a different way,” said Imoco Volley outside spiker, who is very active in virtual world herself. Apart from her Twitter and Instagram account, she runs her own blog 'A passport to play', where she talks about the travels she experienced thanks to Volleyball and between her duties in club and with the national team. You can check her blog here.
In between answering fans questions Robinson spoke to CEV about playing against USA teammates, the Olympic Games, her bucket list of things to do or places to go and her signature dance move.
This is a second CEV Champions League - Women Final Four with VakifBank ISTANBUL for Lonneke Slöetjes. The Dutch opposite admits she always likes to engage with fans on social media. "I have never done this type of thing on my own. I thought it would seem that I want to gather all attention on me by telling fans to ask me questions," explained Slöetjes after answering questions about Final Four, Volleyball, her cat and... China. While she admitted to her fans from China that she would love to visit Beijing one day, her focus at the moment stays in Italy, where her team will try to improve the result from the last edition of the Champions League. As she confessed to one of the fans the 2016 final against Pomì CASALMAGGIORE is one of the matches she would like to play again if she could go back in time.
Check out CEV Twitter and Instagram for all the answers from Kelsey Robinson - #AskKelsey and Lonneke Slöetjes - #AskLonneke and stay tuned for more features with both players.
Lonneke Slöetjes and VakifBank ISTANBUL will begin the Final Four tournament at 17:00 CET time, playing in the semifinal against Eczacibasi VitrA ISTANBUL, while Kelsey Robinson with the hosting team Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO will take on Dinamo MOSCOW in the second semi-final at 20:00 CET time.