Lyubov Shashkova-Sokolova-Kilic (RUS)
The most complete Russian player Karpol ever produced

Before Lyubov (whose name means "love" in Russian), the most complete player was Valentina Ogienko, one of the best players the Soviet Union/Russia ever produced. But even though Valentina was a versatile attacker, she was only a versatile middle attacker. Lyubov can hit from anywhere, including back row; Valentina didn't hit anywhere other than middle or the quick slide behind the setter. And while defence is strong in both players, Lyubov has better setting skills and is a better server than Valentina. I think the arrival of Lyubov for the Russian team couldn't have been better timed. After Irina Parkhomchuk left the Soviet Union and moved to Croatia, the trend in Russia's game has been towards a more conservative, slow, and power-based game, much like Cuba but with half the excitement. No smiles, no thrill, just pounding kills that achieve their purpose but with no real delight (unless poundings are what you enjoy to watch). The flare of Parkhomchuk was sorely missing, and the way she transmitted confidence and even a tint of malice into her teammates has been absent from Russian volleyball (or maybe it's our final realisation

that they aren't an Evil Empire anymore!). Throughout the early '90s, Karpol used this same formula to stay within the top three world volleyball powers, but when he lost the bronze medal to Brazil at the Atlanta Olympics, he realised he needed to do something slightly different.

He changed setters, replacing experienced Marina Nikulina and beautiful Tatyana Grachova with young but talented Yelena Vassilievskaja. He kept his outside hitters, Godina and Artamonova, Yelizaveta Tischenko at middle and added Anastasia Belikova (though this middle position is constantly changing), and last but not least, he put Lyubov Sokolova (later to add Chachkova to her surname, I suppose because she got married) opposite the setter. The first test for this new team came at the '98 Grand Prix, but they lost to Brazil in straight sets, though showing some level of team coherence that just needed time to break through. That moment came at the '98 World Championships in Japan, where they blanked the Brazilians 3-0 and since then have kept their edge against the South Americans. Part of the reason for Russia's success is precisely, the addition of Lyubov to the lineup. She contributes to the team in the same way that Taismary Agüero does to the Cuban team. Though Lyubov isn't a setter, she shifts her team's overall performance a notch or two towards a more balanced play, for Lyubov is not only brute force, she also thinks before tooling, dinking, and pushes Vassilievskaja to use her in more combination plays than have been seen in a long time (probably since Irina Smirnova's day). Soon, people began to discern a quiet but powerful efficiency in Lyubov's scoring abilities.

At the '99 Grand Prix, she led her team to the final against Brazil, and beat them once again in straight sets. Lyubov was second only to Brazil's Virna Dias in scoring, proving that her blocks, attacks, and service aces were combining well. Then at the '99 World Cup, she again contributed to her team's five set defeat of Brazil, hitting combination plays over the blocks of Janina Conceição and Karin Rodrigues. Though neither Lyubov, nor any of her teammates had any response to Cuba in the final of the World Cup, their clash in Sydney will be met with great anticipation, for Lyubov has gotten better. Hopefully, Vassilievskaja will be daring enough to run more combination plays which will give her team the advantage it needs to counter the tall Cuban blocks. Russia has enough firepower in Chachkova-Sokolova, Artamonova, and Godina, and their blocking is as solid as the Cubans, but they need to run a faster offence if they want to beat the Caribbeans at their game. Let's see if in Sydney, Lyubov completes her rise to all-around stardom, and with that, maybe inspire some new names in future Russian generations to do the same.