Anyone watching Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins play in the first events of the 2021 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour season has noticed a significant change in their game.
Among the most technical and intelligent players on the planet, the veteran Latvians are now running a very fast offence that has helped them secure top-5 finishes in their first two events of the year, including here in Cancun.
“Since we first became partners, in 2013, we had this idea of playing very fast offensively,” said the 36-year-old Samoilovs, a three-time Olympian. “The difference is that we would only do that when we had a good situation like an easy serve or a free ball, and now we’re pushing ourselves to have it as our primary offensive weapon. It’s a very complex system and obviously involves a lot of risks, but when it works, it gives us a massive advantage.”
The system is based on the idea that, whenever possible, Samoilovs and the 33-year-old Smedins, a bronze medallist at the London 2012 Olympics, should try to hit on the second contact. Even when they use all three contacts to run their offence, the sets should be fast and wide, creating difficulties for opposing blockers and easier situations for them to score.
“The evolution of the game has forced us to adjust and make changes so we could remain competitive,” Samoilovs, nicknamed ‘The Lion King’ explained. “I’m 1.95m and Smedins is 1.91m, so we can’t really challenge the physical blockers who compete on the World Tour now. It’s difficult and it requires a lot of accuracy in our passing. The idea is that we can hit on two at any time, as we try to catch the blocker off-guard. When he commits to the player who could potentially hit on two, then we jump set and the other player in our team should have no block in front of him. If the strategy is executed to perfection, the idea is that any hits should be without a block in front of it, but obviously, with how well teams are serving now, it’s not always possible.”
The mastermind behind their crafty offensive system is Italian coach Marco Solustri, who has developed a reputation for running fast-paced offences in his teams, with the most recent and notable example being Italians Adrian Carambula and Enrico Rossi.
The Italian is just the second coach in Samoilovs’ career as he replaced Aleksandrs’ father Genadjis, who had been his coach since he started playing beach volleyball.
“Marco is the right guy for us,” Samoilovs said. “He’s been encouraging us a lot to trust the system and to be brave and use it all the time, even if it leads to mistakes. I was coached by my father for 19 years and it’s been good from a mental standpoint to be working with someone else. He’s got different drills and a different view on the game, so it’s been exciting.”
In their nine seasons together, Samoilovs and Smedins have won as many as 24 World Tour medals, including 13 golds. They’re trying to qualify for their second Olympics as a team after finishing 19th at the Rio 2016 Games and are currently 17th in the Olympic rankings with 5,880 points.
The medal matches of the first event in Cancun will be streamed live on the Beach Volleyball World Youtube channel. Subscribe, log in and set reminders to receive notifications when streams begin.
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Cancun Hub - 1st event
Cancun Hub - 1st event - Match schedule
Provisional Olympic ranking - Men
Provisional Olympic ranking - Women
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