Lokomotiv defeats Rabita coming back from 0-2!

With the postponed match Lokomotiv-Rabita the first Round of the Azerbaijani Super league Regular season came to the end.
Lokomotiv Baku started the match with fast combinations of attack with Nancy Metcalf and Yelena Parkhomenko. Rabita was trying to equal the score, but Lokomotiv had 4 points average till the end of the set,but Rabita held the equality at 22-22 and with Natalya Mammadova`s mortal spikes ended the set 25-23.
The second set passed much easier for Rabita Baku which took 9 points advantage till the end of the set with great performance by Krsmanovic and Kimberly Glass. But Lokomotiv could take some points with Kristin Richards not to lose the set,Mira Golubovic and Mammadova closed the set 25-21.
Rabita Baku started the third set very sure of the win,but Lokomotiv Baku was not going to give up and lose the match. Shining Kristin Richards and Yelena Parkhomenko played their best game in the following two sets with the help of experienced setter Monika Smak and Nancy Metcalf and took these sets 25-21: 25-18
Rabita was shocked with the opponents amazing game and having some errors on the back line,Rabita could not neutralize the attacks of Kseniya Poznyak (Kovalenko) and Yelena Parkhomenko from the second zone. Krsintin Richards did her best Lokomotiv to close the match for their side. 15-12 and 3-2. Lokomotiv did great "Come Back" and introduced Rabita to the first defeat.
The best players of the match were: Kristin Richards from Lokomotiv and Natalya Mammadova from Rabita Baku.
Despite of losing this match Rabita became the Winter Champion with the set average.

28 December 2010 / Postponed match (3.leg)
Lokomotiv Baku - Rabita Baku 3-2 (23-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-18, 15-12)

Rabita Baku: Zhukova,Starovic,Mammadova,Glass,Golubovic,Krsmanovic,Popovic (L)
Lokomotiv Baku: Smak,Metcalf,Richards,Kamenova,Parkhomenko,Poznyak (Kovalenko), Filipova (L)

Ranking
Rabita Baku 9 (4-1) (14 - 4 )
Azerrail Baku 9 (4-1) (13 - 5 )
Igtisadchi Baku 8 (3-2) (11 - 8 )
Lokomotiv Baku 7 (2-3) (8 - 12 )
VC Baku 6 (1-4) (5 - 12 )
VC Shirvan Guba 6 (1-4) (4 - 14 )

The Postponed match Rabita-Lokomotiv will define the "Winter Champion".

Today, at 18:00 in Sarhadchi Olympic Complex will be played postponed match of the third round Lokomotiv-Rabita which will clear the name of the leader of the Regular Season First Round.
Lokomotiv Baku is looking for its second victory in the Super league when Rabita Baku tries to take back its leader position on the ranking from Azerrail Baku which played a match more than Rabita.
Rabita will miss Olga Ativi due to injury of knee,for two month.

Oksana Parkhomenko - Nice moments

Olga Ativi out of courts for 2 months.

Universal player of Rabita Baku Olga Ativi (Tocko) will miss the team for two months due to injury of knee.
Rabita Baku which participates in the CEV European Champions league can count Ativi`s help only after the first half of February. We hope Olga will recover very soon and help her team in the most important matches.

Natalya MAMMADOVA (Rabita Baku 3 -1 Scavolini Pesaro)

Oksana Parkhomenko attacks 100% effectively, Dinamo Moscow demolishes 3-0!

The setter and leader of the Azerbaijani National team,our honor in Russia Oksana Parkhomenko which plays her second season for Dinamo Moscow takes victories in a row.
After defeating Omichka, Dinamo Moscow crushed Avtodor-Metar in straight sets. The best scorers of the match were Nataliya Goncharova (18 points) and Carolina Costagrande (13 points) from the Muscovite and Aksana Aksenova with 13 points for the team from Chelyabinsk.
The setter Oksana Parkhomenko scored 6 points,4 from attacks with 100% efficiency, 1 ace and 1 block.

Avtodor Metar Chelyabinsk - Dinamo Moscow 0:3 (14:25, 16:25, 13:25)

Best scorers: Aksenova 13, Osichkina 8, Samoylova 8, Sharavskaya 6; N.Goncharova 18, Costagrande 13, Perepelkina 11, Merkulova 7, Parkhomenko 6


23 December 2010
Samorodok Khabarovsk - Leningradka San Pietroburgo 3:0 (27:25, 25:20, 25:17)
Best scorers: Lyakunina 20, Margatskaya 12, Sotnikova 12, Zarkova 10; Tkacheva 14, Sozina 7, Gorshkova 7, Belousova 6

Omichka Omsk - Dinamo Krasnodar 2:3 (19:25, 25:19, 16:25, 25:21, 12:15)
Best scorers: Malofeeva 26, Gansonre 18, Yaneva 16, Zhitova 11, Orlova 11; Bukreeva 26, Barboza 17, Kodirova 15, Rogacheva 13

Uralochka NTMK Sverdlovsk Region - Fakel Novy Urengoy 3:1 (25:23, 25:19, 21:25, 25:22)

Dinamo Kazan - Zarechie Odintsovo 3:0 (25:16, 25:20, 25:19)
Best scorers: Kosheleva 18, Gamova 12, Larson 8, Borodakova-Borisenko 8; Makarova 8, Naumova 7, Kozuch 7, Walewska 4, Markova 4

Dinamo Yantar Kaliningrad - Proton Saratov Region 0:3 (18:25, 22:25, 17:25)


Ranking

Dinamo Kazan 21 (7-0)
Dinamo Mosca 18 (6-0)
Dinamo Krasnodar 17 (6-1)
Uralochka NTMK Sverdlovsk Region 14 (5-2)
Omichka Omsk 13 (4-3)
Samorodok Khabarovsk 9 (3-4)
Proton Saratov Region 7 (3-4)
Zarechie Odintsovo 7 (2-4)
Dinamo Yantar Kaliningrad 5 (2-5)
Avtodor Metar Chelyabinsk 5 (1-6)
Leningradka San Pietroburgo 4 (1-6)
Fakel Novy Urengoy 3 (1-6)

Natalya Mammadova Rabita BAKU

At last: Lokomotiv claims its first victory in the Superleague.

Last day with three interesting matches the 4th leg of the Azerbaijani Super league came to the end. Lokomotiv Baku claimed its first victory.
In the first match of the tour the leader Rabita Baku tested the young fighters of Adnan Kistak "VC Shirvan". Shirvan tried to show some nice actions but Rabita did not let the girls of Kistak to open their eyes winning the match in three sets 3-0 (25-13: 25-17: 25-16)

The best players of the match were: Bojana Doganjic (Rabita) and Alina Aliyeva (Shirvan)
In th second match of the day another debunant of the Super league "VC Baki" faced Lokomotiv BAku which was hungry for the victory in the local arena. Match started with nice actions of Richards and Metcalf from Loko and new transfer of Baki Juliana Valnte and Sarai Alvarez answered the opponents with not weaker attacks. The first set was closed with win of Loko 25-20 and in the second set Baki won win the same result with great game of the setter Engle and Michaela Manzoni.
The following two sets were staged to a dramatical game,but Loko was not going to lose the match and closed the sets 25-19 and 31-29. 3-1 (25-20: 20-25: 25-19: 31-29)

The best players: Nicole Davis (Lokomotiv) and Juliana Valente (Baki)
The closing match of the tour was between Azerrail and Igtisadchi which had the same points and the result of the match was very important of the ranking case. Igtisadchi played without the head coach,although the new coach of the team Jan de Brandt was in Baku and watching the match from the tribunes.
The first two sets Igtisadchi was looking for "adventures" replacing players in a row and that`s why lost the first two sets 25-27 and 14-25. Polina Rahimova and Jennifer Tamas showed super performance and lead their team to the victory in these two sets. Especially with the strongest aces of Rahimova Igtisadchi had quite serious problems in reception,despite of having such a great player like Yuko Sano,Riikka Lehtonen and Alice Blom.
But the third set was the beginning of Igtisadchi`s coming back. The German setter of Igtisadchi played very big role in that with her serves when the score was 20-16 and Azerrail was very close to win the match in three sets. But Weiss brought the score to 21-23 and with Alice Blom`s perfcet attacks they won the thrid set.
The fourth set showed that Igtisadchi was not going to give up,Fin Riikka Lehtonen and Spanish Marisa Fernandez answered Polina Rahimova and Elisangela Pereira Paulino`s powerful attacks and closed the set in tie-break part - 26-24.
In the fifth set Azerrail was a bit nervous and Igtisadchi had two points advantage but one again rising star of Azerbaijani volleyball Polina Rahimova and American NT captain Jennifer Tamas showed great performance in tie-break and finishd the set 15-12 and the match 3-2 (27-25: 25-14: 22-25: 24-26: 15-12)
The MVP of the match was Polina Rahimova. The best of Igtisadchi was the Dutch star Alice Blom.

Yeeeees! He signed! Jan de Brandt in Igtisadchi Baku!!!

He has signed! The great Belgium coach Jan de Brandt today signed with Igtisadchi Baku which resigned with Reshta Yaziciogullari due to some internal problems.
Jan de Brandt will coach Igtisadchi Baku till the end of the season,but the team is going to keep him in his post for a long time. We hope it will be like this!!!

Last two seasons Jan de Brandt was coaching Turkish Fenerbahce and won two Turkish leagues (one of them with our Oksana Parkhomenko,Valeriya Korotenko and Nisa Kuliyeva), one Turkish cup and Super Cup and won the bronze medals of CEV Cup. Last season Fenerbahce of Jan de Brandt also was the finalist of the CEV Indesit Champions league.
Before Fenerbahce Jan de Brandt coached the Belgium National team,Spanish Grand Tenerife Marichal.

Welcome,Great coach and Great Person!

Who knows Russian? Read it! Eugenia Artamanova! The greatest interview!!!

Read this interview! It is in Russian. I could translate,but in their original language it is much much better,origin! You may figure out so many nice and amazing facts about two GRAND people of the Volleyball World!
Eugenia Artamanova (Estes) and Nikolay Karpol!

For the interview: CLICK

Today: 5th leg of the Azerbaijani Superleague

The 5th leg of the Azerbaijani Super league starts today in Sarhadchi Olympic Centre.
The first match will be played between the last Champion Rabita Baku and the debutant of the Super league "VC Shirvan". The match starts on 14:00.
After this match, at 16:00 Lokomotiv which is looking forward to claim its first victory will test another debutant of the competition "VC Baki" which strengthen its squad with Brazilian Juliana Valente. This match can be debut for 25 years old outside-hitter in the Azeri arena.
And the last match also promises us a very hard battle between two teams on the first two rankings with the same points,with the average of the played match. Azerrail and Igtisadchi will do their best to stay on the first position.The match starts at 18:00.
Matches will be broadcasted by Idman Azerbaijan TV.

Oksana Parkhomenko`s Dinamo Moscow with full speed

The Azeri National team captain Oksana Parkhomenko`s Dinamo Moscow defeated Omichka Omsk in the match of the Russian Super league 6th leg.
National team setter Oksana Parkhomenko scored 2 points. Dinamo Moscow defeated Omichka in three straight sets 3-0(25-21: 25-20: 25-21)

The best scorer of the match was Carolina Costagrande with 20 points,she was followed by Natalia Goncharova (19 points) and Yuliya Merkulova (12 points). The best scorer of the Omsk girls was Cuban National team ex-member Yaima Ortiz Charro with 17 points.
19 December 2010 Fakel Novy Urengoy - Samorodok Khabarovsk 0:3 (33:35, 23:25, 24:26) Best scorers: Kutyukova 15, Lisarenko 14, Dianskaya 11, Nabokova 10, Hendzel 10; Doronina 18, Sotnikova 16, Margatskaya 16, Zarkova 7 Leningradka San Pietroburgo - Dinamo Yantar Kaliningrad 2:3 (21:25, 25:15, 23:25, 25:22, 10:15) Best Scorers: Tzvetkova 23, Alimova 16, Beier 14, Belousova 13; Nazarova 15, Sukhova 14, E.Orlova 13, Beck 12 Proton Saratov Region - Dinamo Kazan 0:3 (23:25, 21:25, 14:25) Zarechie Odintsovo - Avtodor Metar Chelyabinsk 3:0 (25:18, 25:18, 25:8) Dinamo Krasnodar - Uralochka NTMK Sverdlovsk Region 3:0 (25:19, 25:22, 25:13) Best Scorers: Ana Paula Lopes Ferreira "Fofinha" 21, Bukreeva 13, Barboza 11, Rogacheva 9; Maryukhnhich 11, S.Filipova 10, Estes-Artamonova 10, Kovalchuk 7 20 December 2010 Omichka Omsk - Dinamo Moskova 0:3 (21:25, 20:25, 21:25) Best Scorers: Yaima Ortiz 18, Yaneva 7, Malofeeva 6, A.Orlova 6; Costagrande 20, N.Goncharova 19, Merkulova 9, Perepelkina 7 Ranking Dinamo Kazan 18 (6-0) Dinamo Moscow 15 (5-0) Dinamo Krasnodar 15 (5-1) Omichka Omsk 12 (4-2) Uralochka NTMK Sverdlovsk Region 11 (4-2) Zarechie Odintsovo 7 (2-3) Samorodok Khabarovsk 6 (2-4) Dinamo Yantar Kaliningrad 5 (2-4) Avtodor Metar Chelyabinsk 5 (1-5) Proton Saratov Region 4 (2-4) Leningradka San Pietroburgo 4 (1-5) Fakel Novy Urengoy 3 (1-5)

Video: Rabita Baku 3-0 Aluprof Bielsko-Biala

Braziliana Juliana Valente joins "VC Baki"

The debutant of the Azerbaijani Super league "VC Baki" inks Brazilian outside-hitter Juliana Valente.
25 years old Juliana Valente played for Czech Modranska Prostejov with Kimberly Glass,last season. She will replace Canadian outside-hitter Stacey Gordon( she signed in Puerto-Rico again) in her new team.

He is coming! Jan de Brandt!!! Or...

The last Azerbaijani bronze medalist Igtisadchi Baku resigned with Turkish head coach Reshat Yaziciogullari due to some internal problems on the eve of the 4th leg of the Azeri Super league.
Belgium specialist,Jan de Brandt is very close to replace his Turkish colleague on this position. Last two seasons Jan de Brandt was coaching Turkish Fenerbahce and won two Turkish leagues (one of them with our Oksana Parkhomenko,Valeriya Korotenko and Nisa Kuliyeva), one Turkish cup and Super Cup and won the bronze medals of CEV Cup. Last season Fenerbahce of Jan de Brandt also was the finalist of the CEV Indesit Champions league.
Before Fenerbahce Jan de Brandt coached the Belgium National team,Spanish Grand Tenerife Marichal. We are waiting for YOU!
Welcome,Great coach and Great Person!

Note: The Croatian National team head coach Miroslav Aksentijevic is also one of the candidates to this post.

Lokomotiv is still without victory!

Yesterday,on the 20th November the 4th leg of the Azeri Super league came to the end with very interesting matches.
In the first match of the day the debutant of the Super league "VC Shirvan" was tested by the team of stars Igtisadchi which played the match without its Turkish head coach Yaziciogullari.
The beginning of the match was disappointing for the young girls of "VC Shirvan", which lost six straight points from the opponents serves. And only then, "Shirvan" was able to soak through - 1:6. As a result, the first set finished with a score of 25:14 in favor of "Igtisadchi" with a brilliant performance of German setter Weiss and the Croatian middle-blocker Ivana Milos.

However, in the second period, "Shirvan" showed character: until that time the game was equal. Young Azeri player Alina Aliyeva played amazing in every part of the court,serving very strong aces and powerfully attacking from the back row.Morever,"Igtisadchi" stepped forward,but the young fighters carried the set to tie-break,where they were luckier - 26-24

The third period showed that the "Shirvan" is set to a serious struggle,and the victory against Lokomotiv of stars was not by an accident. "Shirvan" was great with Azeri National team member Aynur Karimova on block and Alina Aliyeva at reception and attacks. They had an advantage in five points but at the end of the set Dutch star Alice Blom and Spanish middle-blocker Marisa Fernandez led their team to the victory in the third set. 25-22
The third set was very important for young girls,but losing this set they gave up in the following one with the score 25-15 and Igtisadchi closed the match 3-1.
The best players of the match were: Alina Aliyeva from "VC Shirvan" and Alice Blom from Igtisadchi.

Rabita and "VC Baki" faced in the second match of the day. Rabita was playing without the captain Natalya Mammadova who was replaced with the former captain Bojana Doganjic.
"VC Baki" missed Canadian outside-hitter with whom they did not come to the agreement and who is replaced by Brasilian player (more info soon) which did nit take a part in the match due to license problems.
Rabita played great all match long and claimed an easy victory in three sets with smart performance of Sanja Starovic and Kimberly Glass. 3-0 (20-25, 19-25, 17-25)
The best players were: Sanja Starovic (Rabita) and Sarai Alvarez (VC Baki)
The last match was played between Azerrail and Lokomotiv. Azerrail was looking for the victory for not losing the first position of the ranking (even Rabita played a match less),and Lokomotiv was hungry for the victory in the local arena,since they lost all of three matches played.

Match started with 4 points advantage of Lokomotiv with Yelena Parkhomenko`s blocks and Kristin Richard`s attacks. But soon Azerrail equaled the score having smart performance with Polina Rahimova`s strongest attacks and Jennifer Tamas`s killing blocks. 28-26
Young Azeri player Polina Rahimova was shining all match long with incredible attacks and serves putting Nicole Davis and Kremena Kamenova in a very hard situation in reception. Lokomotiv did everything to claim the first victory but Azerrail Baku was stronger in every component of the game and won the following two sets 25-13, 27-25
The best players of the match: Polina Rahimova on Azerrail`s side and Kristin Richards from Lokomotiv.

VC Shirvan Guba - Igtisadchi Baku 1-3 (14-25, 26-24, 22-25, 15-25)
VC Baku - Rabita Baku 0-3 (20-25, 19-25, 17-25)
Lokomotiv Baku - Azerrail Baku 0-3 (26-28, 13-25, 25-27)

Ranking

Azerrail Baku 7 (3-1) (10-3)
Igtisadchi Baku 7 (3-1) (9-5)
Rabita Baku 6 (3-0) (9-1)
VC Baku 5 (1-3) (4-9)
VC Shirvan Guba 5 (1-3) (4-11)
Lokomotiv Baku 3 (0-3) (2-9)

Super Natalya Mammadova (Bielsko Biala-Rabita Baku)

Igtisadchi resigns with Yaziciogullari

Last bronze medalist of the Azerbaijani Super league Igtisadchi Baku resigned with the Turkish head coach Reshat Yaziciogullari.
Who will replace the Turkish coach in this position?- Soon... Stay with us!

4th phase of the Super League LIVE on Idman TV today

Today the 4th leg of the Azerbaijani Super league starts in Sarhadchi Olympic Center .
The debutant of the Super league "VC Shirvan" will be tested by the team of World Stars Igtisadchi Baku in the opening match of the phase.
In the second match the last champion Rabita Baku will face another debutant of the Super league "VC Baki".
And in the third and the last match of the day Azerrail will meet Lokomotiv Baku which is looking forward to claim its first victory in the local arena.

14:00 "VC Shirvan" - "Igtisadchi "
16:00 "VC Baki" - "Rabita "
18:00 " Azerrail"- "Lokomotiv"

Oksana Parkhomenko scores 10 points!!! Dinamo Moscow crushes Uralochka 3-0!!!

Azerbaijani National team captain,setter Oksana Parkhomenko`s Dinamo Moscow faced legendary Karpol`s Uralochka Yekaterinburg in the 5th leg match of the Russian Super league.
With great performance by Natalia Goncharova (15 points) and Yulia Merkulova (12 points) Dinamo Moscow defeated girls of Karpol in straight three sets. Azeri setter of Dinamo scored 10 points as much as the Italian star outside-hitter Carolina Costagrande.
Oksana Parkhomenko scored 2 points from attack,3 from block and 5 from services. It helped the Muscovite to close the match with three points.

Statistcis of the match: Click

Rabita sweeps Aluprof 3:0

In the fourth round of the 2010-11 CEV Champions League, Rabita Baku swept Aluprof Bielsko-Biala in straight sets, avenging the last week defeat.

Sanja Starovic headlined Rabita's attack with 14 points and Natasa Krsmanovic added 12 points, including match-high five blocks.

Rabita came out focused and ready, and by the time of the first technical timeout the host team was up 8:3. It didn't stop there, as Azerbaijani champions pushed ahead to a 10:3 lead, forcing Aluprof coach to signal another timeout. A tip over by Kim Glass had Rabita go up 17:4, and Polish team looked like a shadow of itself from last week. Aluprof did managed to cut Rabita's lead to eight, but it was too little too late as a block from Mira Golubovic closed the set 25:13.

Rabita picked up from where it left off in the second set, as Kim Glass put another block for a 12:7 lead. Polish team, however, stayed resilient, and crept within two at 15:13. Rabita grabbed the next three points, taking a 18:13 lead, but Aluprof responded with a ferocious 8:2 run and took a first lead in the game, 21:20. With the set on the line, it was the time for Rabita defense to shine - a series of incredible saves and three blocks in a row helped Rabita to snatch the set 25:23.

In the third set, Rabita built a quick 4:1 lead for Aluprof to erase it and to tie it at six. But Rabita would not relent. Hosts took four points straight, then pieced together three more points to go up 13:8, forcing guests into a timeout. But the pep talk didn't help much as Rabita finished the set with a final 12:4 run to close the match 25:12.

Rabita Baku - Aluprof Bielsko-Biala 3:0 (25:13, 25:23, 25:12)

Rabita Baku: Doganjic, Krsmanovic 13, Popovic (L), Mammadova 11, Glass 10, Golubovic 7, Starovic 14, Zhukova 5

Aluprof Bielsko-Biala: Ciaszkiewicz 5, Frackowiak 3, Waligora 1, Okuniewska 12, Sawicka (L), Studzienna 2, Kaczmar 2, Bamber 12, Matusiak 1

Notes: Set duration: 21min, 27min, 21min (total: 69min). Service errors: Aluprof 8, Rabita Baku 3 Aces: Rabita Baku 11, Aluprof 5

In the other match in the group, Scavolini defeated Dinamo Romprest 3:0 (25:12, 25:20, 25:21)

Baku wants to host "FINAL FOUR" of the Champions League.

The capital of Azerbaijan,Baku can host the "Final Four" of the CEV Champions league for 2010/11 season.
Rabita Baku which represents Azerbaijan in the most popular European clubs tournament pretends to organize this important event in its city.

Azerrail and Igtisadchi join Lokomotiv in the next round of the GM Challenge Cup

Following Lokomotiv's footsteps, Azerrail and Igtisadchi advanced to the next round of the GM Challenge Cup after defeating Greek Markopoulo Revoil and Austrian Sparkasse Klagenfurt, respectively, in return matches of the second qualification round.

Azerrail earned the victory with set scores of 25:12, 25:20 and 25-15 while Lokomotiv picked up the win over Austrians with set scores of 25:9, 25:19 and 25:22. Azerrail and Igtisadchi won first games last week with a similar 3:0 scoreline.

The next opponents for Azerbaijani clubs will be determined by drawing of lots later this week.

Great Moments:Lokomotiv - Omichka. Extended highlights