Treviso, Italy, April 24, 2017. Many of the world’s best Volleyball players took to the court of Palaverde this past weekend – and they all provided thousands of fans in attendance, and those following the matches on TV or via Internet, with a joy to watch! Seven plus one – Most Valuable Player Zhu Ting – eventually made it to the so-called Dream Team, featuring the ‘cream of the crop’ from the four teams that fought for Europe’s most coveted Volleyball crown.
China’s Zhu Ting was making her first appearance in a Final Four of the CEV Volleyball Champions League – actually this is her ever first season playing overseas – and she lived up to everyone’s expectations playing a leading role in VakifBank’s success. Zhu – a gold medallist and the Most Valuable Player from the Rio 2016 Olympics – top scored in the semi-final with Eczacibasi VitrA as well as in the gold medal match with Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO – and she outclassed everybody else, with teammate Lonneke Slöetjes scoring some 10 points less than the Chinese superstar did in each of the matches they contested.
Zhu performed under the eyes of her mentor Jenny Lang Ping, who had travelled to Treviso to follow Zhu’s actions together with a number of Chinese fans. Zhu is so famous in her home country that even a group of executives who had just arrived in Treviso did not hesitate to buy tickets to attend the Final Four and presented her with flowers after waiting for her to show up at the lobby of the teams’ hotel.
Four more players from VakifBank ISTANBUL made it to the Dream Team – their setter Naz Aydemir Akyol, outside hitter Kimberly Hill, middle blocker Milena Rasic and opposite Lonneke Slöetjes.
As many as three players from Team USA feature in the Dream Team – next to Hill, Kelsey Robinson and Rachael Adams stood on the podium as well, thus confirming that USA can currently boast some of the world’s best Volleyball players. This bodes well for the national team season where Robinson, Adams, Hill and many more will join forces again to continue the success story that USA have written since Volleyball legend Karch Kiraly has been at the helm of the team.
Thousands of home fans at Palaverde had something more to celebrate next to the silver medal won by the ‘Panthers’ – Robinson and libero Monica De Gennaro were indeed among the best players of the Final Four, thus adding further joy as Imoco Volley were making their first ever appearance in the final stage of Europe’s elite Volleyball competition.
Although they take different positions once standing on the court, these eight players have something in common – they stand out on as well as off the court. Robinson and Slöetjes took some time during the weekend to chat and engage with the fans via the CEV social media in an effort to bring the stars closer to their followers and know more about their lives when they are not spiking, blocking, passing, in other words doing what they love the most!
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