CLVolleyM All-Star Team Vote: Middle Blockers Nominees
Volleyball fans count the days to the most anticipated night in Europe's club season, the #SuperFinalsAntalya scheduled to take place on May 5th. To make the wait more exciting there is a quest for spots in the All-Star Team to grab by the players, who took part in this edition of the CEV Champions League Volley 2024 - Men. The CEV analyst precisely scanned the performances of players to select four nominees per position and now the fans all around the world can cast their votes to recognize the efforts of their favourites. We continue with the presentation of the stats standing behind our nominees, taking a closer look at the middle blockers today. In the All-Star Team, same as in the match starting six, we need two middle blockers, so there are two groups of four nominees to grab one title each.
MIDDLE BLOCKER 1
Barthélémy Chinenyeze, the 2.04m-tall reigning Olympic champion, as always has been in his element in the middle of the net. In his second season with Cucine Lube Civitanova, he helped the team to reach the Champions League semi-finals, showing his value on the court.
In 10 games (and 34 sets) played in this campaign he scored 78 points for Lube (2.29 per set). The 26-year-old Frenchman produced solid performances in all skills, having 57 winning attacks, 16 block stuffs and 5 aces to his name.
Mert Matić strengthened Halkbank Ankara's squad already last season, however in this campaign they ended their #CLVolleyM journey already in the quarter-finals. Despite a bit upsetting result, the 28-year-old Turkish middle blocker of Bosnian origin showed his potential again.
With his height - 2.11m! - Matić stands out with his physical conditions, building the wall above the net to deny access to the opponents. So there is no surprise that the block was his powerful weapon. In 10 games (38 sets) he tallied 24 block stuffs, contributing with 76 points in total (2 points per set). In addition, he earned 49 killing spikes and 3 aces.
Nehamiah Mote in the last three seasons became a core member of Berlin Recycling Volleys. In this edition his team didn't manage to surpass the #CLVolleym quarter-finals, but showed their strength again.
The 30-year-old Australian performed in 9 games (24 sets), delivering 48 points (2 per set) and keeping the fighting spirit in the team. The stat sheet of this 2.03-tall middle, included 6 blocks, 4 aces and as many as 38 winning attacks.
Graham Vigrass returned to the Champions League's stage in great fashion, as he had huge merits in Guaguas Las Palmas historic campaign. Starting off in Round 1, they reached the quarter-finals and showed their teeth, beating in the pool phase Jastrzębski Węgiel. The 34-year-old Canadian joined the squad this season, being one of the players to make the difference on the court.
The 2.03m-tall Vigrass was the best scorer among all middle blockers. He played in as many as 15 games (55 sets), hammering the impressive 137 points (2.49 per set). His spiking stats include 100 winning attacks and one of the top percentages of efficiency and success in this element - 50% and 60.61%, respectively. However, he didn't limit himself only to spiking, he also recorded 29 block stuffs and 8 aces.
MIDDLE BLOCKER 2
Robertlandy Simon the legendary Cuban was one of driving forces of Gas Sales Daiko Piacenza in their rookie CLVolleyM campaign. Although in the past the 36-year-old middle blocker lifted the trophy with Lube, this time he and his teammates were stopped in the quarter-finals. The 2.08m-tall star-player of Piacenza performed in 8 games (26 sets), scoring in total 70 points (2.69 per set). Next to his name he had 19 blocks, 7 aces and 44 attacks.
Norbert Huber stands out with his season's figures both at international and national stage, making sure that his name will top the charts. He joined Jastrzębski Węgiel in the 2022/2023 season and led the team to the second consecutive SuperFinal. Earlier, he was a part of Zaksa's golden squad, helping the team to gain two (of their three) Champions League trophies, hoping to lift it again on May 5th with Jastrzębski.
The 25-year-old delivered a truly outstanding performance in this edition of the Champions League. The 2.07m-tall Polish performed in 9 games (33 sets), scoring 97 points, which gives 3.23 per set! The block and serve were one of his strengths, as he recorded 15 killing stuffs and 10 aces, but his main weapon in this campaign has been attack. The counter - before the SuperFinals - showed 72 winning spikes, however, the most important is that whenever he got a chance to finish the ball, he did it. He has the highest spiker efficiency among all players - 63% and also the highest percentage of killing spike - 73.37!
Bedirhan Bülbül in his fourth season with Ziraat Bank Ankara reached the CLVolleyM semi-finals for the first time. Once achieving this milestone with his club, he showed his potential at the centre of the court again.
The 24-year-old (and "only" 1.99m-tall - in compere to other nominees) Turk played in all 10 games (37 sets) and was one of the players with the highest number of blocks as he had 27 killing stuffs to his name. In total he scored 83 points (2.24 per set) and was a solid support also in offense, as he won 48 points in attack and served 8 aces.
Jan Kozamernik returned to Trentino Itas before this season to become a vital force of the team at the centre of the court. The 28-year-old Slovene on the way to his first SuperFinal marked his presence with excellent performance.
His team benefited from his skills in 9 games (30 sets), while this 205-cm-tall middle became the best server among other players in this position. Kozamernik served 13 aces and scored a total 68 points (2.27 per set). His figures stats are highlighted also with 39 killing attacks and 16 blocks, but he hopes to excel it on May 5th when he will play for his maiden CLVolleyM trophy.