Lase – Biolar
Selver Tallinn – set to represent Estonia in the European Cups – is the current leader of the standings after completion of four rounds with the top three rounded out by Pärnu VK and Lase-R. The main phase of the competition will see every single team play a total of 27 matches.
The President of the Latvian Volleyball Federation, Almers Ludviks, hopes that after a memorable year for Volleyball in Latvia – Beach Volleyball duo Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins won bronze at the London Olympics and the men’s national team is still in contention for making it to the final round of the 2013 European Championship – also the SCHENKER League will draw significant attention and interest from the media and the fans.
The format of the League was revised to provide more opportunities for young players – via an increase of the number of matches played – to improve their skills and get more playing time. The roster of almost all clubs participating in the SCHENKER League is indeed a mixture of youth and experience, with players from the national teams being joined by guys that still belong to the junior category. After completion of the prelims with 3 rounds, the SCHENKER League will continue with the Playoffs and culminate in a final four before the teams got back to their national championship.
The Latvian teams have set different goals for this year’s edition: Lase-R wants to win every single match, improve the skills of the young players included in the group and make it to the final stage, not to forget the importance assigned to the national league and Latvia’s Cup. Poliurs/Ozolnieki has stressed Latvia’s national championship is a priority together with a good position for the start of the Playoffs in the SCHENKER League. A spot in the Playoffs of the SCHENKER League and a medal in the national league are the main goals set by University of Daugavpils whereas VK Biolars/Jelgava is not simply targeting the qualification for the final four of the SCHENKER League but also wants to come out on top of the domestic competitions to be eligible to represent Latvia in the 2014 European Cups.
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