Volleyball player Kaisa Alanko, 31, will play in a new kind of top league next season.
Joel Sippola,
Johannes Oikarinen
Top volleyball player Kaisa Alanko, 31, gets to be part of a new interesting volleyball series. The Finn, who previously won the championship in the French league with Levallois Paris Saint-Cloud, is participating in the new women’s professional series in the United States.
The series is called LOVB, where six teams play. The actual season lasts from January to April and is preceded by the training season starting in November.
There are interesting names as investors in the new series. Among other things, basketball’s NBA superstars Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum and one of the most successful alpine skiers of all time Lindsey Vonn.
The matches of the new professional series will be shown on one of the largest TV channels in the United States.
The United States is one of the greats in women’s volleyball, but the country has lacked a credible top league in the past. Three years ago, the US women’s national volleyball team won the first Olympic gold in its history and is among the strong medal candidates in Paris as well.
One of the options for the experienced passer was Brazil, but in the end the charm of the new series won out. Alanko feels that the game rhythm of the new series serves him best at this point in his career.
– It interested me because the level is top notch. There are many top coaches. The season is shorter, as it only lasts from November to April. There will be a short break before the national team summer. Hopefully it will allow for more playing years, he points to the recovery.
Big potential
The system of the US series is very different compared to many others. The players have signed a contract with the league, but the league divides the players into six teams to make the series as even as possible.
Alanko doesn’t know his team yet, but believes the address can be found in the Texas area.
– It’s really cool and you get to play with probably a couple of Olympic champions on the same team. I expect the series to become a big deal there.
Alanko says that the United States has great potential in terms of international volleyball. There are many high-level players in the country, starting with university athletes.
– Some have to stop after their university career, because they don’t go to Europe. However, there is a lot of mass there, Alanko states.
Important national team games for the EC qualifiers
Finland will play Silver League matches this summer. Today, Thursday, it faces Luxembourg. In last summer’s European volleyball championships, Finland was left in its first group by only beating Estonia.
Alanko believes that the matches of the Silver League will serve well considering the European Championship qualifiers starting at the end of the summer.
– Last summer, there were fewer games of chance, which was reflected in the games. In the first games, we weren’t ready yet. Now it’s good to get good games, especially now that there is a really tough group in the EC qualifiers.
Finland will face Switzerland and Germany in its group, against both of which it will play three times. Qualifying will continue in the summer of 2025.
In the silver league, the team gets the opportunity to weld their game to the right places with an eye on the European Championship qualifiers.
– We try to use every game to develop the Team Game. There will be Portugal, Hungary and Bosnia, which are tough teams, says Alanko.