“I have the strength to never give up.”

That’s how Anastasia Guerra, a 6-foot-5 outside hitter from Italy, explains why she chose to play in the Korean V-League.

Guerra is currently participating in the Korea Volleyball Organization (KOVO) 2024 Women’s Foreign Player Tryouts, which have been taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, since July 7th. Of the 37 invited players, 30 are in the apogee position and only seven are outside hitters. 토토사이트 순위 One of those seven is Guerra.

Born in 1996, Guerra played overseas for the first time in the 2018-19 season. She wore a Shanghai Shenhua jersey. Guerra is the newest foreign player to head to Shanghai after Kim Yeon-kyung (Heungkuk Life) spent a season there in 2017-18. She has also played in France in 2018-19 and in the Ligue Turkique in 2023-24.

She is also an Italian international outside hitter. She was also part of the roster for the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Nations League qualifying round. She scored 17 points against the Dominican Republic.

“I’ve been following KOVO’s tryouts for a few years now,” said Guerra, who is looking forward to playing in Korea. “I’ve been dreaming of trying out for a different league, and I wanted to experience a different style of league than the one I’ve been playing in, so I decided to try out,” he said. “This is my first time trying out. I’m honored to be one of the 40 invited players.”

In Korea, the decisive apogee position is favored. Guerra responded, “I know. I know there are good apogee spikers here. I have the grit to not give up. I will do my best until the end and hopefully it will lead to a good result,” he said encouragingly.

We also heard about the Korean V-League. Valentina Diouf (ITA), who played for Korea’s KGC Ginseng Corporation (now Jungkwanjang), and Italian coach Marcello Avondanza, who is currently at the helm of Heungkuk Life, told her about the V-League. Guerra said, “I’m close friends with Diouf. I heard good things about it. I’ve heard good things about Korea’s volleyball facilities and infrastructure. In Italy, there are many places that don’t have dedicated volleyball facilities that can be used full-time. The facilities in Korea are said to be good, so I’m intrigued and I really want to experience it, and if I’m selected, it will be a good motivation for me to grow,” she smiles.

He also had a brief stint with Avondanza in 2017-18 at Casalmaggiore in Italy. “I was in the same team with Marcello for a short time. He’s a good coach, too. We talked a lot here and he had some good things to say about Italy. He also told me that many teams in Korea can do things that only the top Italian clubs can do, so that was helpful.”

In conclusion, Guerra said, “I’m happy with the way the tryout went. If I get drafted, I will work even harder than I am now. I can grow from what all the coaches are teaching me, and even though I’m 28 years old, I still want to grow and learn,” she said, expressing her strong desire to go to Korea.

While most of the seven teams in the women’s division are focusing on players in the outside hitter position, some teams are also looking at outside hitters. It will be interesting to see if Guerra can find a happy ending in Dubai.