Volleyball

Men’s pro volleyball report: Michelau, Petty, Gooch, Direitto, Gyimah faring well in Finland

February 7, 2024

**TJ DeFalco (59) and Resovia had two wins last week/plusliga.pl photo**

This is Blair Lambert’s VolleyballMag.com weekly men’s professional volleyball report, featuring Americans around the world. Most are former NCAA players. Got a note about a player or a comment for Blair? Email him at [email protected]

This past weekend another American player won a domestic cup competition when Mike Michelau, who had 12 kills, four blocks and an ace, and Savo Volley defeated Raision Loimu in four sets in Finland. Felix Egharevba started the second set for Raision Loimu but did not score any points.

Greg Petty of Hurrikaani Loimaa and Michelau are currently rated as the top two outside hitters in Finland. Troy Gooch, also of Hurrikaani Loimaa, has the best passing percentage in the league, and it also the top-rated libero.

Egharevba, Kofi Gyimah, and Chase Direitto have the top three kill percentages.

Gyimah, a Canadian All-American at UCLA, joined Gooch and Petty at Hurrikaani Loimaa at the end of December after a three-year hiatus from volleyball to pursue a career in music. He is hitting .586 with 1.85 kills per set through his first seven matches.

Petty was named the MVP of the league for the month of February. Petty, Gooch, and Gyimah were all named to the team of the month.

CEV Champions League

Erik Shoji passed 52 percent positively and 33 percent perfectly as ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle needed a fifth set to beat visiting Halkbank Ankara in the first leg. Dave Smith finished with three kills and an ace. Micah Ma’a set Halkbank to a .371 hitting percentage to go with a kill, a block and an ace. The two teams play Wednesday in Ankara.

CEV Cup

TJ DeFalco had a mach-high 13 kills as Asseco Resovia Rzeszów swept Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie in the first leg of the quarterfinals.

SVG Lüneburg beat AONS Milon as Gage Worsley passed 80 percent positively and 20 percent perfectly. Blake Leeson had four kills in as many attacks and two aces.

Poland

ZAKSA was depleted by injuries and illness to the point where a member of the training staff, Justin Ziółkowski, had to suit up as outside hitter. So it was not a surprise that Resovia swept as DeFalco hit .600 on his way to 10 kills, two blocks and an ace. Smith had no kills on five attempts, but finished with an ace. Shoji passed 58 percent positively and 17 percent perfect.

Josh Tuaniga made a rare appearance on the bench but Indykpol AZS Olsztyn swept PGE GiEK Skra Bełchatów.

Jake Hanes had one kill and one ace but hit minus .333 as Cuprum Lubin lost to Projekt Warsawa.

Italy

Gabi Garcia had six kills, a block and an ace for Pallavolo Padova in a defeat to Rana Verona. Davide Gardini added seven kills.

Aleksandar Nikolov had 10 kills, two blocks and an ace for Lube Civitanova in a sweep of Valsa Group Modena.

Jeff Jendryk posted five kills, a block and an ace for Gioella Prisma Taranto in a loss to Cisterna Volley. Kyle Russell contributed eight kills and two blocks.

Russia

Zenit Kazan suffered a rare defeat, a sweep by Belogorie Belgorod. Micah Christenson had a kill and set Kazan to a .344 hitting percentage.

Japan

The Panasonic Panthers beat the Suntory Sunbirds twice. Thomas Jaeschke had 15 kills and three aces Saturday and 16 kills, two aces and two blocks Sunday.

China

Max Holt produced two kills, two aces and two blocks for Beijing in a three-set loss to Tianjin.

Türkiye

Matt Anderson led with 14 kills and a block as Ziraat Bankasi swept Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Sports.

Micah Ma’a set Halkbank Ankara to a .257 attack efficiency in addition to putting away three kills and two aces in a four-set win over Rams Global Cizre Bld.

France

Daniel Wetter produced four kills and two blocks for Paris in a sweep of Saint-Jean d’Illac.

Jordan Ewert had 21 kills, four aces and two blocks for Saint Nazaire in a five-set loss to Plessis-Robinson. Kyle Ensing had 14 kills and seven blocks. Quinn Isaacson set Saint Nazaire to a .262 attack efficiency in the first two sets before being subbed out.

Kyle Dagostino passed 40 percent positively and 20 percent perfectly for Narbonne in a loss to Tours.

Joe Worsley set first-placed Chaumont to a blistering .580 hitting percentage with a kill and a block in a win over Nice. Pat Gasman hit .700 with seven kills, a block and an ace. Michael Marshman had four kills and a block. Dan McDonnell was used as a serving sub and had an ace.

Germany

Joel Schneidmiller had a kill and an ace as a substitute in WWK Volleys Herrsching’s loss to SWD powervolleys Düren.

Cody Kessel started for the Berlin Recycling Volleys, scoring on six kills, a block and an ace in a win against TSV Haching Munich. Austin Matautia finished with three kills, but hit minus .240.

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Gage Worsley passed 75 percent positively and 38 percent perfectly for SVG Lüneburg, which beat ASV Dachau. Blake Leeson had five kills on seven attempts and a block.

JT Hatch started the first two sets for Helios Grizzlys Giesen in a four-set win over VC Bitterfeld-Wolfen and had a kill and passed 25 percent positively and 25 percent positively.

Argentina

Brandon Rattray led UPCN with 24 kills and an ace, but his squad fell to Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires in five sets.

Austria

Tim McIntosh and Hypo Tirol swept VBK Wörther-See-Löwen Klagenfurt. McIntosh passed 76 percent positively and 41 percent perfectly. The next day he passed 80 percent positively and 40 percent perfectly in a sweep of TJ SokolV/Post SV Wien.

Greece

Ryan Coenen contributed eight kills and a block for A.O. Kalamata ‘80 in a four-set loss to league-leading Olympiacos. Matt West set the team to a .221 hitting percentage while producing a kill, a block and an ace.

Cameron Keen had a block and set Athlos Orestiadas to a .268 hitting percentage in a loss to AONS Milon.