One of the world’s best middle blockers from Croatia, Maja Poljak, is reportedly retiring from volleyball after this season. The news was revealed by one of Maja’s closest friends, Neslihan Demir Güler.
In an interview released by voleybolextra.com, Neslihan says that she wants to play against Dinamo Moscow (Maja’s team) in the upcoming gold medal match of the CEV Champions League. Neslihan’s team Eczacıbaşı VitrA Voleybol will face against Zhu Ting and Vakifbank while Moscow will play against the host Conegliano in the other semifinal match.
Maja may have limited success with the Croatian national team but she has achieved a lot in her professional career such as:
2004/2005 CEV Champions League GOLD with Bergamo (Italia)
2006/2007 CEV Champions League GOLD with Bergamo (Italia)
2010/2011 CEV Champions League GOLD with VakıfBank (Turkey)
2014/2015 CEV Champions League GOLD with Eczacıbaşı VitrA (Turkey)
2015 FIVB Club World Championship GOLD with Eczacıbaşı VitrA (Turkey)
2004/2005, 2005/2006, 2010/2011, 2011/2012 & 2014/2015 CEV Champions League “Best Blocker”
2009/2010 CEV Champions League “Best Spiker”
2011/2012 Turkish League “Best Blocker”
2015 FIVB Women’s Club World Championship “Best Blocker”
As for the 33 year old Neslihan, she is NOT planning to retire from volleyball – not yet. Whew!