#GOlympia

Newsletter #3 Key Players in Berlin · Press conference on Monday ·

Volleyball2016 European Olympic Qualification Key Players (Pool A)

All squads in Berlin are filled with major key players that road playing first in Slovenia for ACH Volley and after that can make the difference in important situations. moving to joining MODENA Volley. This summer he moved to Calzedonia VERONA and he has been doing re- Denys Kaliberda, Germany - Outside Spiker ally well so far with the team. Kaliberda is a very important player for Germany. He nee- ded a lot of time to recover from a shoulder injury in 2015 Simon Van de Voorde, Belgium - Middle blocker but is now on the way to getting better and better. His Van de Voorde was the best middle blocker of the Italian smart attack, good service and fast defence reaction ma- League in the last season and changed to Championship kes him the most complete player on the roster of the winner Trentino for the 2015-2016 season. He is one of hosts. the best players on this position and has a very good float service that creates huge problems to the defence of the Mateusz Mika, - Outside Spiker receiving team. The only downside was an open fracture Mika developed to a key player for Poland in the last 12 that he suffered in the last game of the past season but months and is a teammate who can set the pace in all the Belgian giant is on the way back to reaching his top aspects of the game. He had a large share on the triumph form. at the 2014 World Championship and was the best player in the final versus Brazil. Additionally he was able to further cement his status in the past club season as one of the best players of Poland’s vice champions Lotos Trefl GDANSK. If he reaches his best level at the Olympic Qua- lification, Poland will be a stronger team.

Uros Kovacevic, Serbia - Outside Spiker Kovacevic is a left-handed player who has been playing as an outside spiker in Verona. He belongs to the Serbian golden generation, born in 1993, that won the U19 World Championship and European Championship five years ago. The outside spiker started his professional career ab-

2016 Olympic Qualification | Berlin #GOlympia Key Players (Pool B) defeated Germany twice although the home team missed their star player Sokolov. Kevin Le Roux, - Middle blocker Le Roux actually plays as an opposite in his clubs, but his Antti Siltala, Finland - Outside Spiker role in the French team is totally different. Coach Laurent He is the captain of Finland and played one year in Maa- Tillie uses him as a middle blocker and in this position Le seik when German head coach Vital Heynen led that Roux has delivered very good performances at the 2015 team. Siltala is a fighter and leader thereby embodying World League and 2015 European Championship as the real heart of the Finnish national team. France won the gold medal to underline their strong de- velopment over the last years. His strength is his high block, attack and good service.

Ilia Vlasov, Russia - Middle blocker Some experts say that he is the new star with an impres- sive height and reach in block and attack. Vlasov had some problems in the national team during the 2015 season, but it is only a matter of time till he will unleash his full potential and become one of the world’s best middle blockers.

Todor Aleksiev, Bulgaria - Outside Spiker Aleksiev is a very efficient player and can take his team to a different level during a game with some unique emoti- onal movements. The general formula is: If he doesn’t play well, Bulgaria doesn’t win the game but if he plays well, Bulgaria has all possibilities to take a victory. For ex- ample at the 2015 European Championship, with this help

2016 Olympic Qualification | Berlin #GOlympia Kickoff Press Conference

Invitation There is just one week left before the start of the Olympic Qualification in Berlin and we are delighted that the German Volleyball Federation has been given the opportunity to host this amazing event for the third consecutive time in Ger- many. We just want to inform the journalists that the kickoff press conference will be held on Monday, 4th January (11.00 CET), inside of the Max-Schmeling-Halle. Guests will be the head coaches of all teams: Dominique Baeyens (Bel- gium), Vital Heynen (Germany), Stéphane Antiga (Poland), Nikola Grbic (Serbia), Plamen Konstantinov (Bulgaria), Tuo- mas Sammelvuo (Finland), Laurent Tillie (France) and Vladimir Alekno (Russia).

Notice: All confirmed journalists can enter the press centre from 9.30 CET till the start of the press conference at 11.00 CET to pick up their official accreditation. To be on the right spot on Monday and for the event, every journalist will receive a media guide that contains all press information (press ways and working places) within the next days. We are looking forward to see you at the press conference to celebrate the official kickoff for an unsurpassable event.

Importan Facts Venue: Max-Schmeling-Halle, Am Falkplatz 1, 10437 Berlin Time: Monday, 4th January, 11.00 CET Guests: Coaches of all teams

Tickets

Tickets are available on www.ticketmaster.de. Download the official ticket information (CLICK HERE) to get all infos about the ticket sale for the Olympic Qualification in Berlin.

Check out all information on www.GOlympia.org