A tournament with the prestige of the European championships is not usually where you see young players tested. But sometimes, due to special talent or circumstance, a youngster is thrust into a starring role on their team.
Adis Lagumdzija
One player this certainly applies to is Turkish opposite, Adis Lagumdzija. The 20-year-old scored 124 points in his EuroVolley campaign, the third-highest total among all players. Lagumdzija is an athletic force, using his 211cm height and excellent body control in the air to score effectively. Turkey ended their campaign in the eighth finals, but Adis will be part of many to come.
Martin Atanasov
Another player who was a big contributor to a final 16 team was Bulgarian Martin Atanasov. The outside hitter scored 50 points in the tournament across 6 games, proving himself to be an integral part of the starting lineup of Bulgaria. Atanasov has one of the best vertical jumps in volleyball and produces highlight plays both in attacking and blocking. There are not a lot of players who match up athletically with Atanasov, so the sky is the limit for this young phenom.
Adrian Aciobăniței
The last player to highlight is Romanian outside hitter Adrian Aciobăniței. Like Martin, Adrian is another product of Vital Heynen’s Vfb FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, where he played in the 2018-2019 season. The highly skilled wing scored 63 points across 5 matches in the pool phase of EuroVolley. Despite only being 22, Adrian was relied upon by Romania for a large part of their offense, and he led the team in scoring. While Adrian might not have the athletic abilities of the other two players, he is a skilled and crafty player who can score points in a variety of ways.