Player of the Week • April 29, 2014

Each week during the indoor and beach seasons, one player originally reported as a recruit by AVSR Global is named Player of the Week for an exceptional performance.

2014 Beach Week #8:  Maryna Samoday

Florida International University.
Home:  Sumy, Ukraine.
Reported in 2009 by AVSR Global.
6'0" Senior.
See Maryna Samoday’s bio at the FIU website.

Latest Action:

• Samoday returns to the national championship tournament this week after reaching last year’s Final Four.  She’s been on a roll this spring, winning 14 of her last 16 matches.
• Samoday and Jessica Mendoza, juniors at last year’s national championship, swept six matches in the tourney before falling in the semifinals to Long Beach State.
• Last summer Samoday placed fourth at the Under-22 European Beach Championship.
• Samoday’s brother, Valeriy Samoday, age 22, is among the world’s top young beach players.  He won the FIVB World Championship at both the under-21 and under-19 levels.

Excerpt from 2009 AVSR Global report:

“Sleek athlete and longtime player from an elite volleyball family.  Can play six rotations at LH or RH in upper-Division I. … Creative attacker with an easy swing and surgical shotmaking skills. … Comfortable, adaptive ball control.”