Season So Far

I need to get an update on how the matches are going because we've already played seven (four in the championship and three in the cup) so far, and I don't want to get too far behind.

The first round we traveled to Kiev to play Lokomotiv Kiev, a decent team that recently lost a lot of their top players because of financial issues at the club. They were a very young team, and came out hot in both matches and won the first sets, but our team settled down and won the next three on both Saturday and Sunday, to begin 2-0 and sit 3rd in the table.

The following weekend the championship went on hiatus for the first round of the Ukrainian Cup. The cup system in Ukraine is two rounds of group play, starting with four groups of four, then two groups of four, with the top two teams from each group advancing. The final four teams have a traditional playoff to determine the cup winner. We were lucky enough to be a host for the first group, and played matches against Lokomotiv Kiev (again), a team from the "High" League from Chernigov, and Lokomotiv Kharkov-3, basically their youth team. We won all three matches 3-0 and never had any problems in any of the matches. I started and played the whole match against Kharkov, and did okay.

We had the following weekend off, and then we made the trip to Vinnitsa, about 300km west of Cherkassy. After training Friday afternoon and Saturday morning we played the first match Saturday at 4:00pm. We won 3-0, with scores 22-25, 16-25, and 24-26. They are a young team, with a good opposite and a big (6-11) outside, but poor ball control.

The facilities for the match were poor to say the least. There was only one locker room with two working showers that we had to share with the other team and random people who were using the fitness center there. And the playing hall had a floor that seemed like it was from pre-Soviet times, with spaces between the slats of wood, and real risk of splinters from diving. There were also some nails showing on the floor as well, and the ceiling was only about 30 ft high. Valeriy (our captain) joked that they would be hosting the World League there next year...

The second match started off poorly for us, and we were down by five or six at one time, and I changed in midway through the first. We got some counterattack points and came back to level the score at 21, and from there it was a sideout battle, until finally we made a breakthrough and took the first set 27-29. The second set started off the same, with us falling into an early hole, though eventually we came back, and I had two blocks (including one on the 6-11 guy) to eventually win the set 26-28. The third set was easy however, as we jumped out to an early 7-1 lead and had no difficulty finishing them off 17-25.

The wins were good, and though the set scores were close we deserved to win each time. The only negative from the weekend was that our outside hitter (and arguably best player on the team) sprained his ankle at 2-2 in the first set of the second match. But we have depth at outside luckily, and Losha was able to come in and do well.

The second match was the first time I felt like I played at my normal level, and the first time I've done so in a match here in Ukraine. I connected well with the middles and had good rythym with the outsides (my biggest struggle so far) and had some good defense and blocks.

Apparently after the match on some volleyball forums people were bashing us about the wins, saying that we haven't really done anything good this season, and that our coach is terrible, etc, which I find quite funny (but interesting), because people really are passionate about volleyball here, and have teams that they support, much like football (soccer) and basketball.

After the game there was also some drama within the team. We bought some beers to drink on the busride home (5+ hours), but when we stopped to get gas (and everyone got off) the technical director went back through the bus and took all the beers, and put them on the seat next to him. However, we stopped about 30 minutes later and he got off, and we grabbed the beers from the seat next to him and redistibuted them. We he got back on he was pretty angry, and wouldn't let us stop to use the toilet. There were some discussions (none of which I understood) though everything turned out fine.

Newspaper Interview

I was interviewed by the local weekly paper and got a pretty big article. Here is the original link, and the google translation. It's a little jagged, but you can get the idea. And since I was speaking through an interpreter there's some misquotations, but all in all, it's pretty cool.

*edit* Here is a better translation, done by one of our technical directors. Read it instead of what's below.

In Cherkassy volleyball team serves American mathematician

For the first time in the history of Ukrainian Cherkasy volleyball team plays an American.

25-year-old native of California, Matthew Reynolds, by profession a teacher of mathematics, donned uniform Impeksahro Sports Cherkasy "shortly before the new season. In an interview with Press Center player shared his impressions about Ukraine and Cherkassy, which he did not present to hear about the game in the team and answering questions about privacy.


- Matthew, say, where previously played and why chose Cherkasky volleyball club?

- Before traveling to Ukraine, I played four years at the university volleyball team, two for the amateur teams, and two years for the club of Denmark. My agent offered me two options - Ukraine and Austria. By comparing the clubs, I prefer it Cherkassy team that was distinguished by a remarkable professional and friendly atmosphere.


- The Ukrainian volleyball is different from American?

- Compare almost no other, as in the U.S. volleyball hardly developed, except at the level of student. And the volleyball players of Denmark, except sporting career, working in parallel, such as factories or offices. In Ukraine there is to professionally deal with this sport.


- Matthew, you have at home is very well developed, basketball, baseball and american football. Why did you choose Volleyball?

- I tried many sports, particularly basketball, golf, American football. But when I met volleyball, he loved this game, although it is not so popular in America. I even coached youth amateur American team.


- You came to Cherkassy club when the team was already fully staffed. Is it difficult to join in the team?

- First, I was hard in the sports sense, because before coming here I have not trained for some time, but the team already has a strong physical training. But beyond the volleyball court did not have any problems, however, all were very supportive to me.


- Could such a short time to get acquainted with Cherkassy?

- When I was driving to you, you do not know anything about Odessa and Ukraine, only seen some pictures online. And when arrived, almost a week studying the city. I was very impressed by the many bazaars and parks.


- How to overcome the language barrier, or to teach Ukrainian, Russian?

- This helps me to dictionaries. And I now live with their mates Zhumatiyem Alexander, who learn Russian and Ukrainian, and he with me in English. So slowly and become proficient in the language.


- Do you like Ukrainian food? Do not miss the U.S.?

- I tasted Ukrainian borscht, dumplings, potato pancakes and many dishes whose names are not remembered. It is like herring, this is no America. So while I am in Ukraine, I will enjoy the cuisine. And if you want American food is, in Yalta, too, can buy a hamburger or pizza.


- Do you have a wife or a girl? Do you like Ukrainian girls?

- I am single and have no girl. And the beauty of Ukrainian women I heard when driving here, and this rumor proved to 100%.


- How did the transition in Cherkassy club your family?

- Mother is very happy for me. However, I have not seen them already a long time and miss their parents and younger sister. We communicate by email. On New Year's Day I hope the trip home.

Number 8 - Matthew Reynolds

Position: setter

Height: 190 cm

Weight: 75 kg.

Came from America, California.

Marital status: single.

Date of Birth: 26/02/1984.


By: Anna OSTAPCIUC

Ukrainian Superleague

Here's something I wrote about the league before we started playing our matches. I didn't get a chance to publish it however, so here it is now:

Our first match is this weekend, so before we start playing I thought I'd give an overview of the league. There are eight teams in the Superleague, all spread pretty evenly across the country. The top two teams play Challenge Cup (though only Lokomotiv Kharkov this year), while the 8th place team goes down. There is a playoff between the top two teams from the "High League" (the 2nd best) to see who moves into the Superleague. Winning a match 3-0 or 3-1 is worth three points, and a 3-2 match is worth two points for the winner and one for the loser.

The match format for the league is such that teams play each other twice on the weekend, with one match Saturday and one match Sunday. For matches that aren't too far away (I'm guessing less than 5-6 hours) we travel on Friday by bus, with a training session when we arrive. For matches that are farther away we will go by overnight train on Thursdays. We have a team bus, which you can see in the picture, which is nice inside as well, and there is plenty of space between the seats and a hot water dispenser in the back to make tea and coffee.

The playoffs have a different format this year than they have had in previous years in Ukraine. It was explained once to me (though not very well), and this is how I understood it to be: The top four teams at the end of the regular season have some kind of group play with two matches against each team, and the team with the best overall record after this group round is crowned champion.

The consensus favorite to win the league this year is the aforementioned Lokomotiv Kharkov, with a team from Crimea called Crimsoda another contender. (Yeah. Like "cream soda.") Lokomotiv Kiev is traditionally a top team, though they lost a lot of sponsorship money last year so all but two of their veteran players have left the club. Our team is solid all around, though somewhat young compared to Kharkov and Crimsoda, and we should have a chance to do something good in the playoffs.

Kiev

Main square

Kiev

Pechersk Lavra Monastery

Nezalezhnist Training Tournament

Over the weekend we hosted a tournament that coincides with Ukrainian Independence Day. We ended up winning the tournament, and our libero and outside hitter picked up best libero and best player awards, respectively.

I didn't play that much, but I knew I wouldn't going in because I hadn't trained much with the team. I played about half the time in the first match, and was part of some double switches in the last two matches, as well as making some appearances as a serving specialist. I had an ace in each match and made some good plays but I'm clearly still getting back into volleyball mode.

Our first match was against the youth team of Lokomotiv Belogorie, who's senior team is one of the best in Russia and in Europe. They were a good team, but young, and it wasn't much of a challenge for us. The set scores were 25-18, 25-17, and 25-18. I honestly expected a bit more from them, though I would put their level at about the same as a top Under-17's or Under 18's team from the States.

The second match was against VC Favorit, a club that just came up to the Superleague from the 2nd Division Ukraine. They were decent, and it was interesting for me to see what kind of level the rest of the league has. They were all big, and pretty solid all around, though they didn't have much depth on their bench. We made a lot of errors in the second set and lost it pretty badly, but rebounded to win 3-1. The set scores were 25-22, 19-25; 25-18, and 25-16.

The last match was against VC Metallurg, who was the champion of Belarus last year and is playing in the Challenge Cup. They were a really good team, and it was a close match the whole way through. We came out quick and won the first two sets without much difficulty, but Metallurg rallied and won the third and fourth to force a final set. It was 7-8 at the switch, and I went in to serve for our middleblocker when we were down 8-11. We got one point back off my serve, then they sided out to go up 9-12. We were out of subs, so I changed with the libero and went back to the bench. We ended up getting a couple points back again (including two side outs when they had match ball) and suddenly it was 16-16 and I had to go back in the front row to play "middle." We switched so that the opposite was blocking middle and I went to my normal place in position 2. They set their opposite and we got a dig and a kill from the outside to go up 17-16 and get our first match ball. They set the outside on the next play and I got a touch and we picked it up to get another counterattack and win the match. It ended up being a little ugly, but we got the win, and I was able to make my middle debut in Ukraine, which was exciting.

After the match we were treated to some cheerleader dancing, as well as some traditional Ukrainian folk song and dance numbers by some kids, all of which was set to a laser light show, which was kinda funny. I've been looking for pictures or video of the match, but it's not up on our site yet, and I don't think the newspapers were covering the matches, but if I find anything I'll be sure to post it.

Ukraine

After two days of training the team here in Klagenfurt ended up signing another setter instead of me. So it goes. However, the experience here was good, and I just got word of a team in Ukraine that is looking for a setter. So tomorrow I'm taking a train to Vienna and then flying into Kiev.

The club is called VC Impexagro Sport Cherkasy and is in Cherkasy, about 150 km south of Kiev. They play in the top division in Ukraine and finished 5th last year. There is apparently a tournament starting on Tuesday, and they want me to play with them for that. I've never been to Ukraine and I don't know anything about the Cyrillic alphabet, so this will definitely be an interesting experience, but I'm looking forward to playing some good volleyball.

Back in Denmark

After a great summer back in California, and nice little sending off with the Six-Man, I'm back in Denmark. (If you want to know why I'm wearing a dress, you've obviously never been to Six-Man.)

I won't be here long, however, as I'm heading off to Klagenfurt, Austria for a tryout. The team, VBK Wörther-See-Löwen Klagenfurt, is in 1. Bundesliga, which is the top division in Austria, and they finished 5th last year, one spot out of a European Cup.

I leave Tuesday morning, fly into Venice, then catch a train to Klagenfurt, which is a little less than four hours away. I'll arrive in the evening, and likely have my first training Wednesday. I'll keep everyone updated on how it goes.