13 Oct 2023
Opening Weekend: Men's Super League club-by-club preview
All teams will play their first league match of the season in Northamptonshire on Saturday.
Volleyball England would like to thank all clubs for their input in compiling this information.
The lowdown on the women's teams, who play on Sunday, will follow tomorrow (Friday) ahead of their matches on Sunday.
Tickets for the two Opening Weekend days are now available by clicking here.
Click here for the spectator guide.
Click here for Super League Opening Weekend live streams.
Follow the weekend across Volleyball England's social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
Team Durham
Home venue: Maiden Castle.
Head coach: Ross Enfield.
Team captain: Nico Iannelli.
Players in: Ace Baker, Bradley Peters, Conor Dunn, Donovan Todorov, Joe Kobylarz, Joe Linder, Nico Iannelli, Ryan Dickson, Grant Maleski.
Players out: All players, apart from Max Gibbins.
One to watch: Conor Dunn. Standing at a massive 6' 10", Conor is the team's tallest player who can play multiple positions and has been fantastic in pre-season.
View from the coach: “I hope for a successful season full of trophies and fun. We are very excited to compete at a high level.”
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Essex Rebels
Home venue: Essex Sport Arena.
Head coach: Alex Porter.
Team captain: Thomas Jefferson.
Players in: Kyle Vom Steeg (UCLA, NCAA), William Ragland (Chicago Untouchable, NVA), Hassan Farhat (IBB Polonia), Asher Miller (Malory Eagles UEL), Andrew Wood (Team Essex), Sam Sherwin (Team Essex).
Players out: Aldrin Rena (Essex Blades), Duncan McDonald, Christian Christie, Savvas Konstantinou (Cyprus), Connor Reeve (Team Essex), Powell Osayawah (Team Essex).
One to watch: NCAA D1 Championship winner Kyle Vom Steeg. The 6' 7" left handed cannon from California has worked under USA National Team Coach John Speraw for the last four years and was named as part of the USA National Youth Training Team in 2018. After playing at the highest level in the NCAA and working alongside some of the best athletes in America, Kyle will bring a wealth of experience to the team. He has the honour of being the first professional volleyball player in the UK to use an international sportsperson visa.
View from the coach: “Our first year as Essex Rebels finished with a silver in the National Cup final and a seventh place in the Super League, and I believe we will improve in both competitions. The majority of our 16-man roster returns, bringing their desire and experience along with them.
“The University Performance Volleyball programme enters its 10th year and continues to break new ground. Signing two professional athletes, upping our match day entertainment and the support of our student section ‘The Tribe’ personifies our drive to excel on and off the court.
“This year we launch two big events, Spooky Spikes on 29th October and International Day (societies appreciation) on 3rd Feb where we’ll raise the roof on the Essex Sport Arena by breaking our current attendance record of 440. As coach I’m looking forward to helping this team and the programme build their legacy #WeAreEssex.”
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IBB Polonia London
Home venue: Northolt High Sports Centre.
Head coach: Greg Niski.
Team captain: Andrea Maggio.
Players in: Diego Tamburini (Richmond Docklands), Ian Chau (Kings College London/SideOut), Filip Denchev (Malory Eagles), Olafs Matjusenoks (Malory Eagles), Piero Mueller (City Volley Basel), Mihail Stoev (Malory Eagles).
Players out: Godi Jibi (Ikast Volley Rams), Ivo Dobra (Richmond), Łukasz Tokarzewski, Marlon Silva, Hassan Farhat (Essex Rebels), Peter Soczewka (Purdue University Fort Wayne), Vitor Oliveira (Richmond), Asher Miller (Essex Rebels).
Ones to watch: Each of our players is worth watching during the season. We hope that the team was created to be complex and complement each other. It means that every single player has his own strengths and can give a lot to the team.
View from the coach: “As always, IBB Polonia London will try to realise their sporting aims. We want to get back on the winning track and will be fighting for the top trophies in the Super League and Cup.
“There are many Super League matches to play this season, but looking at our new squad, and the hard work we have invested so far, I am very optimistic. We can’t wait to compete this season! It will be a lot of great volleyball events and I hope we will have many supporters at our venue.”
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Leeds Gorse
Home venue: The Ruth Gorse Academy.
Head coach: Pete Makowski.
Team captain: Zak Gasson-Hudson.
Players in: Kamil Skoberla (Bradford Eagles), Maks Makowski, Emmanuel Oretoye, Dylan Parsons.
Players out: Michal Feterlich, who left the club to restart his football career.
One to watch: Nelson Murangwa. Measures 207cm tall and is an international star with experience of playing top division volleyball in Japan, Greece and Germany.
View from the coach: “We hope to have a strong start and put together a few good results. We have completed a big chunk of training hours on fundamentals since the end of August. We hope to push in to the top six.”
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Malory Eagles UEL
Home venue: Ernest Bevin College.
Head coach: Jefferson Williams.
Team captain: Cameron Carrington.
Players in: Cameron Hook (Durham), Cheik Ba (London Lionhearts).
Players out: Mihail Stoev (Polonia), Richard Ulhir (Richmond).
One to watch: Cheik Ba. Currently studying at UEL and plays middle. He is a quick learner who has ambition and a great work ethic, which is a blessing for any coach.
View from the coach: “We are looking for a fresh start, embracing the new group. We plan to run a good, solid, exciting offence. We have a few universal players, which gives us a great deal of options.”
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Newcastle Staffs
Home venue: Sir Stanley Matthews Sport Centre.
Head coach: Sam Stevenson.
Team captain: Cameron Rhodes.
Players in: Michael Lee (Darkstar), Cole Durant (Loughborough), David Hobson (University of Nottingham), Jermaine Miles, Sam Allen.
Players out: Zakk Hadgett (ASV).
One to watch: Michael Lee is a talented and energetic libero. Expect big defensive touches, dives and dominance in the back court. Mike recently played in South Korea for the Men’s National team and it's fantastic that we can add another international player to our squad. Debuting in the Super League this year, Mike is only going to get better and better. We hope you enjoy watching his performances as much as we do.
View from the coach: “We're all really looking forward to competing in the Super League this year. We've added some real quality to our squad and I'm excited to see what we can build on from the past couple of years. Cup Final and the play-offs are our top goals.”
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University of Nottingham
Home venue: David Ross Sport Village.
Head coach: Freddie Fairbairn.
Team captains: Oliver Quick and Jacob Thomas.
Players in: Joelson Santy, Andre Castro (UCI), Cole Turnbull, Henry Norris, Joshua Chiziwa, Rob Morgan, Slater Bird (UCSB), Szymon Dar (Richmond).
Players out: Ben Lucas (ASV Elite), David Hodson (Newcastle Staffs), Blake Crisp, Campbell Schoenfeld, Iraggio Safaee, Jakob Higer, Shahrouz Farhadi.
Ones to watch: Players to look out for this season are Slater Bird and Iketchi Obikwelu for their attacking prowess and the two new young setters Cole Turnbull and Szymon Dar for running a fast and deceptive offence.
View from the coach: "Following a really positive first season in the Super League, we have brought together an exciting group of young athletes that embody our brand of attacking volleyball. We hope to put this on display throughout the season."
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Richmond Volleyball
Home venue: Kingston College Arena.
Head coach: Marcel Sivak.
Team captain: Jared Uhlir.
Players in: Jared Uhlir (Malory Eagles), Benaya Kouame (Malory Eagles), Vitor Oliveira (IBB Polonia), Ayodeji Balogun (Sheffield), Abdimalik Shukri (London Lynx).
Players out: Diego Tamburini (IBB Polonia), Vaidas Audickas (IBB Polonia).
One to watch: Abdimalik Shukri. A young and very talented outside hitter who quietly gets the job done.
View from the coach: “We have a young new team with lots of potential. We hope to at least match our top four finish from last season and make it to the play-offs.”
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Stockport Volleyball
Home venue: Brinnington Park Leisure Complex.
Head coach: Rafal Lojewski.
Team captain: Adam Mitchell, Sébastien Serayet.
Players in: Haydn Lawson (Academy of Beach Sports), Matt Birch (Manchester Marvels), Sajad Dogaheh (Everton), Keisuke Sakamoto (Manchester University).
Players out: Bruno Pavlicko (VKP Bratislava), Shing Chung.
Ones to watch: Patryk Walczak and Artur Zylinski are two players with huge experience that everyone must watch out for. Matt Birch is the candidate for the league's best blocker. Our entire team is a very good mix of youth and experienced players. One of the young players is Tymoteusz Zadeberny, who is worth paying attention to.
View from the coach: "This is our first season in the Super League, and no one gives us the slightest chance, but I believe in this team, and I know that we can qualify for the play-offs and spring a huge surprise at the end of the season."
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Team Sunderland
Home venue: City Space, University of Sunderland.
Head coach: Jack Mckelvey.
Team captain: Noah Sykes.
Players in: Jonas Janiusas (Durham Palatinates), Iraj Saffae (University of Nottingham), Oliver Tuck (Team Essex) Brandon Hicks (University of Santa Barbara), Kelechi Bell (Manchester Marvels), Brendan Boyce, Brian Tyre (Balleymoney Blaze), Tom Jones (Sheffield Hallam).
Players out: Redas Mastebrockis (Luxembourg), Jacopo Cimmino (Ostia VC), Will Miller.
One to watch: Noah Sykes. Fresh off the back of an international trip away to South Korea, he has found a new level to his game and is looking to lead from the front.
View from the coach: “A fresh group of motivated, passionate and talented lads means one thing - a redemption season. Time to take the title back up north?”
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