Romanian international Daniel Kitsigoi, born in Varna and son of former Bulgarian national player Radostina Rangelova-Kitsigoi, continues his strong performance in the Japanese SV League. After the first six matches of the season, the 21-year-old outside hitter for Suntory Sunbirds Osaka ranks second in the scoring charts with 131 points.
In his last match, played on November 8, Suntory defeated Shinshu Matsumoto away with a score of 3:1 (25:19, 25:27, 25:19, 25:18). Kitsigoi finished with 15 points, of which 12 were from attack, two directly from serve, and one from block. His attack efficiency was 42.86% from 28 attacks.
A day earlier, the Romanian international performed even more impressively. In the 3:2 victory over the same opponent, he scored 23 points, including 20 from attack with an exceptional 83.33% efficiency – 20 successful attacks from 24 attempts. To these, he added two blocks and one ace.
After the first six matches, Kitsigoi has 113 points from attack, nine aces, and nine successful blocks. He is also third in total attack points in the league, after Stephen Boyer with 122 and Chizoba Neves with 115.
In the scoring charts, only French international Stephen Boyer from JTEKT Stings Aichi is ahead of him with 144 points. Kitsigoi trails by 13, while third-placed Chizoba Neves from Sakai Blazers has 127 points – four less than the Romanian.
His highest-scoring match of the season remains against Voreas Hokkaido on October 24, when he scored 29 points. A day later against the same opponent, he added another 27. In the next two matches, against Sakai Blazers, he scored 16 and 21 points respectively, before recording 23 and 15 in the two victories over Shinshu Matsumoto.
Thus, Kitsigoi has averaged 21.83 points per match, having surpassed the 20-point mark in four of his six matches. At the same time, Suntory occupies sixth place in the provisional standings with three wins, three losses, and nine points.
The 204-centimeter tall outside hitter was born on March 10, 2005, in Varna. His mother, Radostina Rangelova-Kitsigoi, is a former Bulgarian national player, and his father, Cristian Kitsigoi, played for the Romanian national team. Despite his Bulgarian roots, the talented volleyball player chose to represent Romania on the international stage.
Kitsigoi and Suntory's next challenge is on November 14, when the team will face JTEKT Stings Aichi – the team of the leading scorer Stephen Boyer.

photo: Nikolay Varadinov