Evgenia Startseva
The President of the Volleyball Federation of the Republic of Tatarstan, Farid Mukhametshin, whose welcoming speech opened the press conference, pointed out that in recent years Kazan has turned into the Volleyball capital of Russia and has no right to lower the bar after having set so high sports standards.
After that, the new players added to the roster were introduced to the journalists. Two players from Dinamo KRASNODAR that have also played for the national team have joined Dinamo KAZAN – namely setter Evgenia Startseva (pictured) and wing-spiker Tatyana Kosheleva. Kosheleva had already played for Dinamo KAZAN in the 2010/2011 season. Besides, the Russian champions’ line-up has been reinforced with American middle-blocker Heather Bown, previously playing for Azerrail BAKU, Azerbaijan, and libero Alexandra Efremova. 17-year-old wing spiker Irina Voronkova – the best scorer of the 2012 CEV Junior Volleyball European Championship – is also part of the group.
“We will try to meet the expectations of team’s management and of the fans, but we are expecting an incredibly difficult season” was the short-spoken reply of team captain Maria Borodakova.
“Taking into account the roster that we have, it is quite feasible to claim the maximum result in all competitions and tournaments of the season” said the head coach of Dinamo KAZAN Rishat Gilyazutdinov. “The most important thing is that the girls have no injuries. Last season we finished third in the Champions League, this season we will do our best to win this tournament”.
Afterwards the journalists pestered with questions mainly the head coach and most of them were focused on the Champions League. “None of the teams can be ignored in our Pool, said Gilyazutdinov. “2004 Tomis CONSTANTA has not the strongest composition, but it is always difficult to play in Romania. Robur Tiboni URBINO is an Italian club and the Italian championship is one of the toughest in the world. SCHWERINER SC holds the German Cup which also means a lot. We need to approach every match very seriously”.
To read the latest news in the Russia click here
