Excluding those with experience in the V-League, who are the new faces worth keeping an eye on?
The 2023 Korean Volleyball Federation (KOVO) tryout will be held face-to-face in four years. In Turkey, Istanbul, all clubs can see and choose the skills of their players. With the selection of foreign players, which account for more than half of the year’s total, we are going to introduce a new face in the women’s division following the men’s division.
Indre Sorokaite, born in 1988 and of dual citizenship in Italy and Lithuania, has the most diverse experience among the tryout rosters applied for this year. It is possible to combine an apposite and an outside heater. He is currently teaming up with Ju Ting, the Chinese women’s volleyball team, in Italy’s Serie A1 Scandic.
He has been consistently active in the Italian league before, and in the 2020-2021 season, he experienced the Asian league by playing for Denso in the Japanese V. League. He has the great advantage of being able to play multiple positions, but his age is a stumbling block.
Photo_Ran Adeola Owaconi
Another candidate for an outside hitter is the American Adeola Owaconi. With a young age of 2000, he has a high height of 191 cm. He played at Duke University until 2021 before moving to Finland last year to gain his first overseas league experience.
He not only won the Finnish Cup, but also achieved runner-up in the Finnish League. He has a high offensive point of 327cm, and as he is an outside heater, the ability to attack the center pipe is attractive.
Misrina Kikick, a former member of the Turkish national team, is also one of the outside heater candidates. Born in 1996, he has a decent height of 189cm at a young age. She was selected for the Turkish national team for the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) in 2018 and won a silver medal, and is currently a member of the Turkish national league PTT team. He has good basic skills, but the lack of experience in overseas leagues comes as a variable.
Photo_Giselle Silvaㅋㅋㅋ벳
Cuba’s Gisele Silva is a potential candidate for the position. He was born in 1991 and has a height of 191 cm. When he was active in the Philippine League in the 2017-2018 season, he scored 56 points in one game and boasted great offensive power. He has since progressed through the Italian league, won two Cup MVPs in the Polish League in the 2019-2020 season, and is currently working in the Greek League.
Serbia’s Vanja Savic was born in 2002 and is the youngest among the players who applied for this tryout. But his career has been brilliant. In 2020, he won Best Apogee and Best Server at the U19 European Championship, where he played for the Serbian age group. He was also selected for the adult national team at a young age in 2021 and participated in the 2021 VNL. He has a high attack hit point of 310cm, but is evaluated as a bit slow.
Sharon Chechumna of Kenya faced the net with the Korean national team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He also participated in the 2022 World Volleyball Championship with the Kenya national team, accumulating 13.2 points per game. He won the MVP in the 2021-2022 Afrikaans Cup and was the sub king of this tournament GS Caltex Moma.