Star Of Fame #2: Mammadova

One of the world’s most powerful scoring machines!

Statistics:

Full name: Natalya Aleksandrovna Mammadova-Skazka
Nationality: Azerbaijan
Born: December 2nd, 1984 (Donetsk, Ukraine Soviet Union)
Hometown: Baku, Azerbaijan
Height: 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight: 75 kg (170 lb)
Spike: 305 cm (120 in)
Block: 298 cm (117 in)

Volleywood Says…

Scoring 20 points against the world’s best teams is not easy, yet Natalya Mammadova has the talent and the skills to do it almost every time she plays (even more than 20 points per match!). Ilgar from Inside-Volley.com did an amazing job summarizing Natalya’s out of this world performance:

FIVB World Grand Prix 2006: 39 points against Cuba, 35 points against China & 33 points against Poland

FIVB World Championship 2006: 34 points against USA, 35 points against Germany

2010 World Championship Qualification: 31 points against Belgium

European Championship: 35 points against Slovakia , 34 points against Czech Republic

Indesit European Champions League: 47 points Azerrail Baku-Vakifbank Gunesh Sigorta, 37 points Azerrail Baku-Scavolini Pesaro, 36 points Azerrail Baku-Pallavolo Sirio Perugia, 35 points Azerrail Baku-Winizary Calisz, 36 points Azerrail Baku-Tenerife Marichal

Russian Superleague: 37 points Dinamo Krasnodar-Omichka, 36 points Dinamo Krasnodar-Zarechie Odintsovo, 36 points Dinamo Krasnodar-Avtodar metar, 36 points Dinamo Krasnodar-Omichka, 34 points Dinamo Krasnodar-Omichka

Isn’t she amazing?

Despite all the individual awards she has received, like the 2007 “European Player of the Year”, 2009-10 Russian Superleague “Best Scorer”, 2010–11 CEV Champions League Final Four “Best Server” & 2004, 2005, 2006 Champions League “Best Scorer” just to name a few, Natalya has remained humble as she continues to play and fight for her team to gain European and international success. Whether she’s playing for Azerbaijan or for her club team, expect Mammadova to play her best.

We remember her saying that the individual awards doesn’t really matter to her since she has lots of them. What matters the most is the glory her team achieves.

The work that she does for her team is a lot. She truly deserves to be recognized as one of the world’s best players our generation has even seen. If Russia has Gamova, Brazil has Sheila, The Netherlands has Flier then the world knows that Azerbaijan has the one and only Natalya Mammadova.

We’ve asked one of Mammadova’s biggest supporters, Ilgar, to write a special message for her.

” Natalya- you know yourself how much Azeri people love you! You are not just a volleyball player for them, you are real heroine of our sports! All the young and beggining players adore you, all the fans love and pray for you! You have a lot of lovers from different countries-but remember this for always- You are loved for what you do! You have a special place in the hearts of Azeris! We love you sooo much!”

-Ilgar from ilgarazero.blogspot.com

If Mammadova played on our team, we’d tell out setter to keep feeding her the ball and we’d be around to support and cheer for every point we’d score.

On behalf of volleyball fans from all over the world, we proudly dedicate this Wall of Fame to the Queen of Azeri Volleyball – Natalya Mammadova!

(images: FIVB/ Azeri Volley)