News Volleyball 23/05/2014 Stars and starlets at the Montreux Volley Masters 2014 Fasten your seat belts, 2014 Montreux Volley Masters is ready to takeoff! Besides host Switzerland, the long-established national teams' tournamentin Montreux is featuring the best teams of the world. Favourites of the 29thedition are Olympic champions Brazil and world No. 2 the United States ofAmerica. With Japan (world No. 3), China (5), Russia (6), the DominicanRepublic (8) and Germany (9), all participating nations are part of the FIVB’stop ten ranking list.Traditionally, the coaches use the prestigious tournament in Switzerlandto start their national team season. In addition to the opportunity to playagainst their more serious opponents in the world, they take advantage of anexcellent international platform to give their younger players a chance toshine through. With the FIVB World Championship coming up later this year, theteams are gearing up for an exceptional season.However, first of all the Montreux Volley Masters is one of the best women’svolleyball tournaments featuring the top players in the world. With Dani Lins,Adenízia, Jaqueline and Natália, world No. 1 Brazil will be undoubtedly one ofthe top favourites for the Montreux crown. Olympic silver medallists USAchallenge their contenders with Nicole Davis, Courtney Thompson und ChristaHarmotto. With Yunli Xu (China), Annerys Valdez, Brenda Castillo, SidarkaNunez, Prisilla Rivera (Dominican Republic), Christiane Fürst, Kathleen Weiss,Maren Brinker, Heike Beier, Margareta Kozuch (Germany), the fans from allaround the world may expect a high-class competition at the shores of Lake Léman.Brazilian head coach, Zé Roberto, sees the Montreux Volley Masters as animportant start for the long season lying ahead: “Our preparation started withthe presentation of the team. The FIVB Grand Prix will be a long competitionand we’ve got the 2014 FIVB Women’s World Championship afterwards, which is ourmain goal this season. That’s the reason why the Montreux Volley Masters is animportant indicator for us. The tournament is known for the high quality of theparticipating teams.”After their promising return last year, the Swiss national team willagain defend their reputation at this year’s event. After their qualificationtournaments for the CEV European Championship 2015, the fancy competition inMontreux is the highlight for the young Swiss squad. The Swiss team is led bycaptain Kristel Marbach and opposite Mandy Wigger. “It is a dream for Swissvolleyball players participate in such a great tournament,” says Marbach. “Ican’t compare this chance with any another event. We’ll do our best to confirmlast year's improvements.”The Montreux Volley Masters is starting next Tuesday, May 27. The finalsare scheduled for Sunday, June 1. The spectators can look forward to anunforgettable tournament with many attractions – on and off the court!Visit www.volleymasters.ch for schedules, results,team rosters and general information. Print this Page News {{item.LocalShortDate}} {{item.Title}} All the News