Zurich, Switzerland, May 7, 2014.  Volero ZURICH captain Mira Golubovic from Serbia is one of the most prominent players at the FIVB Women’s Club World Championship starting in Zurich on Wednesday not only for her performance and experience, but also for her well known nervous temper.

‘Nervous’ is the wrong word to describe someone who played in three FIVB Women’s Club World Championships and won one gold medal.  Nobody knows it better than Mira Golubovic herself.  The 37-year-old Serbian middle blocker has a better description for her own feelings before the big tournament in Switzerland.

“I am not nervous.  I am anxious.  I cannot wait for the first game and the tournament to get started.  I am excited to do a lot in this competition,” she explains.

However, Mira Golubovic and Volero ZÜRICH are not facing an easy entry-pick for the starting game of the 2014 FIVB Women’s Club World Championship:  “Our match against SESI-SP SAO PAULO will be already a tough fight for us.  They have good players, especially Brazilian national player Fabiana, and have a lot of varieties in their system of play.”

"I am sure that my team can show a good performance.  We have a lot of young players on our roster, but we improved incredibly as a team during this season. We have been preparing for this big tournament, physically but also tactically.  We have done all we can.  Now it is time to show it.”

The former Serbian national player sees the matches against European champion Dinamo KAZAN during the 2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League as an indicator for the potential of Volero’s players.  “We were the only team during the whole competition who could win a game against Dinamo KAZAN and had some other really good games too.  That makes me feel confident for this competition.”

Mira Golubovic has already won one gold medal at the FIVB Women’s Club World Championship with her former team Rabita BAKU.  But what is the biggest difference between that team from two years ago and Volero now?

“We have not played as long together as we had back then with Baku.  I think that Volero is still a young team on the average and needs to have more experience.  We could win the Swiss championship and the cup, but I think this tournament is more important for our development as team, as we are facing the best clubs of the world.  However I am not afraid that this lack of experience can be a problem.  We want to show now the qualities of our team.  We did not qualify for this tournament by winning the Champions League, but can prove now that we deserve to participate here by playing well against those giant opponents.  We have got different kinds of play here at this tournament.  Russian, Japanese and Brazilian styles have got different focuses on their tactics.  We will have to adapt fast; otherwise we have big problems against these quick plays.  I think we can handle it better by serving well.  We have to disturb their tactics.”

The goal is clear for Mira Golubovic, even after the big number of medals she has already won during her career.  “We want to get on the podium and win gold. I believe in this goal.  Even though I will stop playing after this tournament, I want to concentrate.   I do not feel any pressure for this tournament with my teammates.  I do not want to put pressure on myself or the team to prove we can do it.”

Click here for more information on the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship.