As they compete at this year’s #EuroVolleyU16W in Hungary and Slovakia, many young girls are hoping that this is just the beginning of a long volleyball journey. One of them, who has been shining bright during the first days of action in the city of Humenné, is the youngest member of the Slovakian national team – 14-year-old outside hitter Michaela Kánová.
14-year-old outside hitter Michaela Kánová is the youngest member of the home team at #EuroVolleyU16W
As for many others, her family had an impact on her first volleyball steps. “My mother played Volleyball since she was 25, and I always enjoyed it, I liked to go to training with her. After that, I went to a volleyball school when I was 10 and started playing for the team of VK Pirane BRUSNO,” Michaela explains.
Last September, as a 13-year-old, she made her debut in the Slovakian extraleague and became the youngest ever player in the history of the competition. In November, she enjoyed the atmosphere of CEV Challenge Cup matches as well against the Spanish team of Sanaya Libby’s LA LAGUNA. “I was really grateful for that, the underage teams back then could not train because of the pandemic. I learned a lot in the senior team. I believe that helped me in my volleyball growth,” says the 183 cm tall outside hitter.
In the team of Brusno, she trained and played briefly alongside one of the best Slovakian players of the past years – middle blocker Jaroslava Pencová, a five-time Player of the Year (2013 – 2017) in the country. “When I watched our national team, I always admired her as a player. The fact that I was able to play and train with her was amazing. When I came to the first practice, I just did not know what to say to her, but she was very nice and pleasant and I really enjoyed the experience.”
#EuroVolleyU16W is the first major tournament for the youngest Slovakian women’s national team.
“It is something new for us. At first, we did not know what to expect from it, there was also a bit of nervousness, but now we enjoy it all very much.”
The home team started very well in the tournament. Slovakia won 3-0 over Romania and 3-1 against Croatia and took the first set from the duel with Italy, but in the end, they lost 1-3 against the big favourites. Kánová has been a major attacking power for the home side, scoring 14 points against Romania with an excellent 73 per cent success in attack, before adding a record-high 30 points against Croatia and scoring another 13 against Italy. In the tournament scoreboard Kánová, who has registered seven aces as well, has 57 points to her name and sits second just behind Serbian outside hitter Ana Mihajlovi? (65 points).
Solid individual numbers are always a pleasure, but most of all when they contribute to the fulfilment of team goals. Before the last two rounds of pool play, the teams of Bulgaria, Slovakia, Italy and Serbia share the same (2-1) win-loss record and the fight for the spots in the next phase of the tournament will be very interesting.
