Bundesliga volleyball club Dresdner SC announces a spectacular signing shortly before the start of pre-season preparations. The German cup winners and runners-up have strengthened their outside attack with Japanese player Miku Akimoto. The 18-year-old joins Dresden SC on a one-year loan from Japanese first-division club Victorina Himeji for one season.
Akimoto is the first player from Japan to join Dresden SC. The 1.85-meter athlete is considered one of the biggest talents in her home country. Her mother Ai Akimoto was also a successful player, winning Olympic bronze with Japan in London in 2012 and World Championship bronze in 2010.
Despite her young age, daughter Miku has also already gained international experience, including being named the tournament's top scorer at the 2023 U19 World Championship, playing with the senior national team in the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) for the first time this summer and making the squad for the World Cup in Thailand at the end of August.
The switch was made possible by the good connection between DSC coach Alexander Waibl and the long-time coach of the Dutch women's national team coach Avital Selinger, who has worked as head coach at Victorina Himeji since 2023 and advocated the change.
"Miku Akimoto is still very young, but has already played in various positions, is very flexible and a real competitive type. I've never had the opportunity to work with a Japanese player before and I'm really looking forward to it," explained Waibl. The personnel plans for the new season are now complete,
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