Bratislava, Slovakia. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the government restrictions currently in place, the Slovak Volleyball Federation (SVF) has had to cancel the traditional ceremonial gala and presented the winners of the Volleyball Player of the Year 2019 award online. A number of coaches, officials and journalists cast their votes, with opposite Peter Michalovi? (NANTES Rezé Métropole) and outside hitter Mária Kostelanská (Vasas Óbuda BUDAPEST) emerging as the eventual winners of the much coveted prizes for the Male and Female Player of the Year 2019, respectively.
SVF President Martin Krašcenic: “We had an extremely successful year 2019, a truly historic and ground-breaking one for Slovak Volleyball as Slovakia was one of four countries to co-host EuroVolley Women. Unfortunately, the current situation does not allow us to come together as all laureates would deserve. However, I would like to express a heartfelt congratulation to all the winners. I firmly believe that our society and the Volleyball community will emerge stronger from this crisis.”
Maria Kostelanská has emerged as the Female Player of the Year for the first time after enjoying a terrific season FOTO TASR – Pavel Neubauer
After a long reign of middle-blocker Jaroslava Pencová (2013-2017), an outside hitter appeared on the top of the women’s poll for the second year in a row. Kostelanská, this year’s winner, follows in the footsteps of Nikola Radosová (DRESDNER SC). A dynamic player with a skilful hand, Kostelanská was one of the mainstays at the domestic EuroVolley. “I was very surprised and even more pleased with the award. It was definitely the most successful year of my career so far – with the Hungarian national title, the matches in the group stage of the Champions League and above all the fantastic European Championship in a great atmosphere,” said the 27-year-old Kostelanská, who is going to spend the fourth season in a row in Budapest.
Peter Michalovic has claimed the prize for the Male Player of the Year for the first time in his career FOTO TASR – Martin Baumann
In the last three years of the poll (2016-2018), the king of the men’s category was the experienced middle-blocker Emanuel Kohút. This year, Michalovic received the honour for the first time in his career. The 29-year-old opposite was the top scorer in French league with 530 points to his name. “I really appreciate this award. It brings satisfaction and is a reward for my everyday work. I always try to perform my best and I have only the highest ambitions,” said Michalovic, former player of Andreoli LATINA and Yaroslavich YAROSLAVL in the Italian and Russian national leagues.
Italian Marco Fenoglio helped Slovakia make history by steering the team on their way to the 8th Finals of EuroVolley 2019
The women’s national team and its Italian-born head coach Marco Fenoglio swept the awards for the Team of the Year and Women’s Team Coach of the Year. The Slovak women won the hearts of their fans, attracted record-breaking crowds to the Ondrej Nepela Ice Stadium and advanced to the eight-finals at the domestic EuroVolley in Bratislava. “This award is of great importance to me, because it is not easy to become the coach of the year as a foreigner. I am glad that I have gained the trust of the Volleyball community in Slovakia. Together we did something special; I am sure people will not forget about it,” said the Cuneo-native Fenoglio.
The champion of the Slovak Extraliga VK Osmos PRIEVIDZA and its coach Richard Nemec won in the men’s respective categories. Juraj Mokrý became the best Slovak referee for the eighth time in a row. In 2019, he was the first referee of the Champions League gold medal match between Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA and Zenit KAZAN in Berlin. As for Beach Volleyball, Andrea Štrbová with Natália Pridalová, formerly known as Dubovcova, currently tenth in the CEV Entry Ranking, and Luboš Nemec/Patrik Pokopec retained the titles they had claimed last year.
Source: https://www.cev.eu/News.aspx?NewsID=30639&ID=2
Source:http://svf.sk/sk/archiv-sprav/detail-spravy/_volejbalistami-roka-premierovo
