Height Is Might: The Russian Women's Volleyball Team 1

As I have written about my favorite Las Morena del Caribe here and here, let me now share another volleyball team that perhaps was the thorniest rival the of the Cubans at the turn of the century: the towering Russian women’s national volleyball team.

The iconic players of Russia: Lyubov Sokolova on the left, and Ekaterina Gamova on the right.  Both shift between the opposite and outside hitter positions.  Like I said before, Sokolova, 6'3.5", is perhaps the compleat player to have emerged from the Russian team. She was outstanding in all the volleyball fundamentals save probably in setting.  At 6'7.5", Gamova is probably the tallest woman player active in the international volleyball scene.  Her intimidating block is extremely effective when she is the opposite position directly in front of the outside hitter on the other side of the court.

Las Morenas del Caribe 2

One thing that distinguishes the Cuban team is their use of the the 6-2 system.  As opposed to the standard 5-1 system which uses one full-time setter and 5 hitters, the 6-2 employs two setters and 6 hitters.  Both setters are diagonal to each other; whoever is at the back acts as the primary setter, while the one in front acts as a hitter.  Once the setter at the back rotates upfront, he or she becomes the an attacker, and the opposite who has now rotated to the back becomes the primary setter.  What makes up for the stilted setting is the fact that at any given time, there will always be 3 attackers in front of the net.  It is this system that the Cuba has perfected, turning the setters into ferocious hitters at the expense of unimaginative and predictable setting decisions.

Lilian Izquierdo (lower right) and Marlenys Costa (upper right), along with Tanya Ortiz, Raisa O'Farill, were the setter-hitters of Cuba during the early to mid- 90's.  With the arrival of Taimarys Aguero post-Atlanta Olympics, she and Costa became the deadly duo opposite each other until the Sydney Olympics.  In 1997, Cuba experimented with running a 5-1 system with Aguero as the full-time setter. But after a year, it was dropped and they returned to the usual 6-2 formation.

Las Morenas del Caribe 1

I already introduced to you some of my favorite Cuban players, Mireya Luis and Taimarys Aguero, in this my previous post about volleyball 101.  But allow me to delve deeper into las Cubanas and their team that overwhelmingly dominated the international volleyball scene in the 90's.

Regla Bell, on the right, and Yumilka Ruiz, on the left, were the other starting outside hitters  (OH) for Cuba during the 90's.  Bell is unusual because she is a left-handed OH when most southpaws are assigned as opposite (utility) hitters.  Ruiz took over the starting position of Mireya Luis, and remained with the team until the Beijing Olympics.

Some Volleyball 101 1

It's weird that I love playing and watching volleyball, but I've never really written much about it in my blog, save for this post. Someone asked me a few days ago to explain the game in an in-depth manner, so I thought, why not write about it instead?

I'm assuming most of us have played volleyball in our elementary and h.s. P.E. classes at least once, right? Some may even have been part of the varsity team. So I guess most are familiar with the basic mechanics of the game - serve, receive, 3 touches on the ball, counterclockwise-rotation, etc. But most casual volleyball enthusiasts aren't aware that there are specialized positions in the game. That's probably a good jumping point (pun intended) for this post ;)

2 Outside Hitters - also know as openers. They are the ones who usually hit from the left side of the court. The flashiest of them all, since a lot of times, they get the set, especially if the reception of the serve if particularly bad. Also the most pressured of hitting positions, since they are expected to put the ball down, no matter how bad the set is, or how many blockers are in front of them. In most 3-person reception pattern, they are the ones expected to receive the serve along with the libero.
















On the left is the Cuban Mireya Luis, one (if not the MOST) of the most spectacular women outside hitters I've ever seen. I was star struck when I came up to her to chat briefly in Spanish and have my Grand Prix ticket autographed when she was here in Manila as Cuban team manager. She can't be more than 5'8-5'9, but her spike reach was about 10 ft.! Her arm swing was huge and untiring, and every ball was as good as a point. Whether it was a down the line or a cross court kill, she was always magnificent to watch!

On the right is Brazilian outside hitter Giba. Relatively small compared to his Brazilian team mates (relative meaning he's around 6'3-6'4, so you could just imagine the others!). He's the heart and soul of the Brazilian squad, pumping them with his incredible spikes from the left, right, and middle back. Of course, it doesn't help that he's hot, hot, hot, in a dirty-i'm-such-a-bad-boy way wahahahahaha


2 Middle Blockers - they patrol the center of the net, and move side to side to seal the blocks on the right or the left side. Probably the most tiring position for the legs since they have to constantly jump to block. In the hitting department, they are the ones who are mostly given the low and quick sets, and they always have to go in to feign an attack whether they're really given the ball or not. This is to ensure that the opposing blockers are fooled, thus, one less blocker for either the left, right, or back row attackers to worry about.

Andre Heller, on the left, is the smaller middle blocker of Brazil. Even if the taller Gustavo may be the better blocker, I love seeing Andre attacking from the middle because he's relatively faster to swing at the ball. Did I also mention he's hot? lolz

On the right is Simona Gioli, the bad, kick-ass hot mama middle blocker of Italy. The attitude, swagger, and stare-downs on court is really cute to watch. Just like the Russian Tistchencko, she may not be that tall for a middle blocker, but her running (slide) attack is deadly, and almost always converts into a kill.

1 setter - the general inside the court. Just like a point guard or a quarter back, the setter is responsible for calling out and delivering a play in a given sequence. A setter needs to be smart, creative, and devious, accurately giving the balls to the attackers facing the weakest blocks, and making sure that the balls are distributed well to confuse the opposing blockers.


















On the left is is the Feng Kuhn, China's setter. The Japanese setter Takeshita may be more creative and accurate, but her height is simply a liability when she rotates upfront. Feng is a more complete setter in the sense that she's both great at setting and and blocking, plus she can also spike a ball in the rare times it's set to her.

Ricardo, on the right, is my personal favorite guy setter. He was the brains that lead the Brazilian squad through it's very successful phase from 2003-2007. With the amazing hitters he had in his disposal, it was amazing to watch his unerring sense of whom to give the ball to when the team needed a kill. Too bad he was kicked out of the team before the 2008 Olympics supposedly because of attitude problems.

1 opposite - also known as the utility. They are diagonal to the setter and mostly hits from the right side of the court. In international standards, this is purely the hitting position. Most of the time, they are not expected to receive, but just attack, and attack, and attack. Used a lot in combination with the middle blocker decoy, and also for back row attacking. Should be a good blocker, since they are the main block facing the opposing outside hitter. They should also be ready to be the back-up setter on court if the setter digs the ball.


















On the right is Lioubov Sokolova/Sashkova/Kilic, the most complete players to have come out of the old-school Russian volleyball. Though she also plays as an outside hitter, by function, she does what an opposite is expected to do. For a relatively tall (6'3) player like her, she digs and plays defense really well, plus she's one of the main service receivers of her squad. Her jump serves have also created a lot of problems for opposing teams. She, along with Godina, and Gamova, propelled Russia to a gold medal in the 2006 World Championships.

Just like Sokolova, the Cuban-Italian Taismarys Aguero (on the right) is another complete player in every sense of the word. What she can do is amazing: spike hard, block intelligently, and serve accurately, to dig and receive well, and thanks to her Cuban background, even set! Along with Mireya Luis, she was part of the Cuban squad that dominated the whole of the 90's but to the Sydney Olympics. Her defection from Cuba is Italy's gain, as she elevated the Italian team's level to greater heights as they got the gold medal in the 2007 World Cup.


1 libero - the player with the different jersey. A purely back row defensive and receiving player. Cannot serve, attack, and rotate upfront, and can only set with restrictions (overhead from behind the 3-meter line, underhand if in front of the 3 meter line). Replaces the player with the weakest defense and receiving skills (usually the middle blocker since they are tall and slow to dig the ball) without having to ask permission from the second referee.

Brazil's Sergio is very small compared to his team mates, but he's almost 6 ft! Here, he's seen receiving the ball along with Giba at the Athens Olympics. Does it shoe that I love the Men's Brazilian team? teehee





The Japanese team is known for their spectacular floor defense, and they would do anything just to keep the ball in play. Here is their libero Yuko Sano diving on the floor to dig a hard driven ball. Libero = floor's best friend.

Five Simple Things I've Learned from Playing Volleyball

"One point¹ at a time lang tayo, o. Kung magkamali, bawi kaagad!"

There's no use dwelling on past mistakes. Just let it go. Don't worry too much with the future, too. Just stay in the moment, stay in the now. Each moment is fleeting and transitory in nature. Once it's gone, you can never bring it back to savor it.


"Kung yung block e nasa harap mo na, pa-check² mo na lang sa kamay. Gawan mo ng paraan!."

No one said that life would definitely be one smooth ride. Obstacles will always be encountered. What matters is that you do something about it. Wag titiklop, wag dadagain, wag papatalo. Walang rebanse³ in real life, walang take two. Think of it very well, and just do it!


"Cover⁴ your spikers. And your blockers as well."

It's all about trust and support. That you'll be there for the people who mean something to you. That those very same people would also be there for you. Kung san ka masaya, suportahan ta ka. Well, as long as you don't step on other people in the process hehehehe


"Talk! Talk! Talk! Bawal tahimik sa loob ng court!"

Open communication is one of the fundamentals in any kind of relationship. Being honest is always the best policy, whether is brutally delivered, or said in a gentle manner. You deserve that from them as much as they deserve it from you.


"There are no bad 1st⁵ balls. Only bad setters."

I take full command responsibility with the choices I make. I can't lay the blame on other people, and neither can I blame external factors. At the end of the day, it's still me who will have to decide. It's my life after all. Integrity will back up and follow through these choices that I make. Hopefully.


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¹ The rally point system makes it easy to get a point. Just don't make a mistake, and force the other team to make a mistake.
² The act of hitting the ball off the hands of the opponent's block.
³ In the parlance of pustahang laro, it's the last and determining set. Sometimes, the stakes are raised even higher.
⁴ Staying underneath the your spiker to be able to get the ball just in case it gets blocked back into your own court. Covering your own blocker means rushing in behind them just in case the opponent decides to tip the ball instead of spiking it hard.
⁵ This works on the premise that no matter how the ball is badly received or dug, a really good setter should still be able to give the ball properly to his spikers.