Shortly after the end of the EuroVolley 2021 qualifiers and the European Golden League, the Slovak Volleyball Federation announced the winners of the awards for the top Volleyball players of the year 2020. A special ceremony took place at the National Football Stadium in Bratislava to mark the occasion, with only the award winners and some media representatives in attendance to comply with COVID-19 protocols.
Star opposite hitter Peter Michalovic is once again Slovakia’s Male Player of the Year (picture courtesy of Veronika Mihaliková)
The 1st Vice-President of the Slovak Volleyball Federation Adriána Mar?eková, herself a six-time Female Player of the Year, congratulated all the winners. Since such a ceremony could not take place last year, the recipients of the 2019 awards attended the event as well.
The title of the best male Volleyball player of the year remains in the hands of opposite Peter Michalovic. Filip Gavenda and Peter Ondrovic finished second and third, respectively. “It is a very prestigious award for me, and I really appreciate it. I would like to thank all the people who voted for me. I will try to pay back with the best possible performances in the national team,” said Michalovic, who will continue his career in Foinikas Syros in the Greek championship after spending the last three years in France with Nantes Rezé.
The leader of the national team, outside hitter Nikola Radosová, won the best female Volleyball player award again, thus repeating her success from the 2018 edition. The second place in a close race went to setter Barbora Koseková with Mária Žernovic completing the top three.
“I am very pleased with winning this prize, it is an excellent feeling and satisfaction, being awarded for hard year-long work, and it is a huge motivation for further work.”
Nikola Radosová
Slovakia’s Female Player of the Year 2020
Nikola Radosová is the undisputed leader of the Slovak women’s national team (photo courtesy of SITA Slovak News Agency)
She will stay with Fatum Nyiregyhaza in Hungary for the next season as well.
In the team’s category, both winners of the Super Finals in the Slovak Cup triumphed – i.e. the women’s team of Strabag Bilíkova Pezinok and the men’s team of Osmos Prievidza. Eva Koseková (Strabag Bilíkova Pezinok) and Marek Kardoš (Mirad Unipo Prešov and Slovakia’s national team) received the awards for the best women’s and men’s team coaches of the year 2020.
The awards for the best Beach Volleyball players went to national championship winners Jana Šimanicová/Barbora Tokošová and Marek Ludha/Luboš Nemec, with the national team’s libero Nemec winning the title for the third time in a row. Juraj Mokrý received the prize for the best referee for the ninth time in a row, with the awards for the best young players going to middle blockers Tereza Hrušecká and Michal Zeman, both new additions to the Slovak national teams. The Fan Award went to outside hitter Radosová and opposite Gavenda.
