CLVolleyM All-Star Team Vote: Outside Hitters Nominees
Less than two weeks left until the ultimate Volleyball party - #SuperFinalsAntalya scheduled on May 5th. The Volleyball fans still have a chance to cast their votes for their favourite players, selecting the Fan’s All-Star Team of the CEV Champions League Volley 2024 – Men. We go on with the presentation of the nominees, focusing today on outside hitters, the most versatile players, who need to demonstrate strong skills in all elements. Hitting hard and passing well, they often become the scoring leaders of the teams. We have two spots for outside hitters in the All-Star Team, so the CEV analysts selected two groups of four players, racing for the recognition. Let’s analyze their performances!
OUTSIDE HITTER 1
Alessandro Michieletto a 23-year-old left-handed Italian season by season amaze the experts and fans with his capabilities, becoming a true volleyball superstar, having a chance now to add CLVolleyM trophy to his already impressive cabinet.
In this campaign he was Trentino Itas' second best scorer with 145 hammered points in 30 sets played in 10 games (following Kamil Rychlicki with 152 points), this gave him the highest set average among our nominees - 4.83. His stats stand out also with the highest number of aces and blocks in this group - 17 and 21, respectively. He recorded 107 killing spikes with 53.5% success in attack (46% efficiency) and had 23% perfect receptions.
Tomasz Fornal led Jastrzębski Węgiel to the second consecutive SuperFinal. The Polish outside hitter has been a point leader of the club, having 139 points to his name (4.09 per set).
The 26-year-old gallant, who has conquered the international stage with both the club and national team in the last seasons, stayed consistent through all 10 games and 34 sets he performed in the Champions League, smashing 109 points in attack with 48.88% success (and 37% efficiency). He was also successful on the service line – 15 aces and in the block, having 15 killing stuffs. In the reception he was the busiest among our nominees as he was in charge of reception 223 times, gaining 26% perfect receptions.
Earvin Ngapeth, in his first season with Halkbank Ankara he reached the CLVolleyM quarterfinals, being one of the most powerful hitters in his team. The 33-year-old Frenchman keeps impressing with his creative hits and incredible saves.
In this campaign (10 games and 38 sets played) he smashed 121 points (3.18 per set). The counter of killing spikes showed 101 to his name with 46.54% success and 28% efficiency. He served 8 aces and added 12 blocks to his season stats, along with 27% perfect receptions – the highest among all four nominated outside hitters.
Nicolas Bruno was one of the heroes of Guaguas Las Palmas, as the club achieved a milestone in their history, reaching the quarterfinals despite starting off in Round 1!
The 35-year-old Argentinian was the second best scorer of Las Palmas with 208 points - 3.89 per set as he performed in 55 sets and 15 games in this campaign (following his teammate Francisco Wallyson Bezerra Souza – 214 points). Among our nominees he has the highest stats in attack that include 183 points, 54.95% kill spike and 42% efficiency! In receptions he got 25% excellent. In other elements he also set the bar high with 15 aces and 10 winning blocks.
OUTSIDE HITTER 2
Matthew Anderson returned to the Champions League with a bang. He led Ziraat Bank Ankara to the historic semi-finals. Although the 37-year-old American superstar, who lifted the Champions League trophy on four occasions (all with Zenit Kazan), this year won’t add another title under his belt, he delivered again a great performance.
Although he played only 8 games (30 sets) he scored as many as 135 points (4.5 per set). His stats in attack are pretty impressive – he smashed 111 points in this skill with 43% efficiency and 53.11% kill spike. His scores consisted also of 9 aces and 15 blocks. Among all our nominees Anderson can boast with the best performance in reception as he recorded 29% excellent receptions.
Ricardo Lucarelli the experienced 32-year-old Brazilian, strengthened the squad of Gas Sales Daiko Piacenza last season, becoming obviously a core member of the team. He put in a lot of effort to help his team in the rookie #CLVolleyM campaign, reaching the quarter-finals.
Although he played in 8 games (28 sets) he tallied 111 points (3.96 per set), which made him the best scorer of Piacenza. He hammered 105 attacks, achieving 40% efficiency and 54.97% kill spike. He also showed off his skills on the service line, delivering 8 aces. He also got 2 killing blocks and had 26% excellent receptions.
Timothée Carle together with Berlin Recycling Volleys proceed to the Champions League quarter-finals again.
The 28-year-old Frenchman performed in 29 sets in 9 games, scoring for his team 98 points (3.38). He was solid support for his teammates in reception, recording 27% excellent. He also had 81 kill spikes to his name (21% efficiency and 42.19% success), 3 aces and as many as 14 blocks.
Aleksandar Nikolov is definitely one of the rising stars. The youngest among our nominees, the 20-year-old Bulgarian excelled in his second Champions League season with Cucine Lube Civitanova.
Performing in 34 sets (10 games) he hammered 135 points (3.97) that included 121 attacks, 8 aces and 6 blocks. According to stats his excellent receptions was 19%. However, his efforts in attack has to be highlighted as he reached the highest percentage of kill spike – 56.28%! His spike efficiency was also impressive – 45%.