Jeffrey Menzel became a volleyball player of the Orestiada team on Friday. Akrites announced the acquisition of the 36-year-old American winger until the end of this season, in order to strengthen the attack and claim their stay in the Volley League.
Last season, Menzel played for the Gigantes de Carolina of Puerto Rico.
In detail, the announcement:
“The administration of TAA Athlos Orestiada is particularly pleased to announce the start of the partnership with the 36-year-old American athlete, Jeffrey Menzel, who in the 2024-25 season was playing for Gigantes de Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Jeffrey Menzel is an international player with the US national team and his name appears in the “TOP 10” athletes with the highest jump in world volleyball.
This is a very dynamic winger with a prominent career in European stadiums and beyond. It has vast experience, with a successful presence in the largest European CEV events, the FIVB World League, and the Arab Club Championship. In addition to numerous collective and individual distinctions, our beastly ace has seven “cups” in his palmares.
Also, in his career Menzel has also competed successfully as a diagonal.
Born on October 31, 1988 in Santa Barbara, California, Jeffrey Menzel took his first steps in volleyball in Santa Barbara, where he played for eleven years. From 2008 to 2011, she joined her alma mater’s volleyball team, UC Santa Barbara, where she played in the 2011 NCAA Division I final against Ohio State. Offensively, she led the Gauchos with 453 digs, 4.23 digs per set, 29 aces and 509 total points.
His career as a professional began in the 2011-12 season in Spain, where with the “colors” of Almeria he won the Spanish Super Cup and together with the title of MVP of the competition. During his rich career, he has played, beyond Italy, where he was a teammate of Costa Stivachtis in the New Mater of Castellana Grotte, in Belgium, Poland, France, USA and Puerto Rico.
He has also competed successfully in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain), winning the title of the Arab Club Championship, but also in Indonesia with the colors of Jakarta Pertamina Pertamax.
At the representative group level, in 2011 Menzel participated with the USA university team in the “World University Games” organization and then made his debut in the national team, winning the silver medal in the Pan American Cup. He also won the gold medal with the “star” in the North American championship in 2013, while he competed at the top level in the World League in 2012 and 2014.
However, apart from his impressive jump, with an attack that reaches 3.65m and a block at 3.60m, our newly acquired ace is known in the volleyball world for his love of tattoos, with dozens of them adorning his body.
In his first statements after the formalization of the transfer, our newly acquired winger emphasized that: “I am happy to come to Orestiada and to Athlos, which for me is a great challenge. Of course, we have a difficult task, but I don’t hide from you that I like difficult things! I believe that with hard work, belief in ourselves and the potential of the team, we can, with the help of our people, achieve our goal.
Every match for us will be like a final. We will give 100%, giving our best in every match, since there is no more room for mistakes. I expect from the new year, regardless of the opponent, to show a very competitive face and I believe that in the end we will smile”.
The management of the Orestiada club welcomes “Jeff” to the club’s family and wishes him every success on a collective and individual level.
Menzel’s career:
2011-2012 Unicaja Almeria (Spain): 1st Spanish Super Cup, 2nd Spanish League, 3rd Spanish Cup, 9th Challenge Cup
2012-2013 BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte (Italy)
2013-2015: Nolico Maaseik (Belgium): 2nd Belgian Super Cup, 3rd Belgian Championship, 8th Champions League
2015-2016 Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia): 1st place Championship, 1st place Cup, 1st place Arab Club Championship
2016-2017 Al Wasl (Dubai)
2017-2018 Espadon Szczecin (Poland)
21018-2019 Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia): 1st place League, 1st place Cup, 1st place Saudi Super Cup
2019 – 2020 Zamalek SC (Egypt): 2nd place Egyptian Championship, 3rd place Egyptian Cup, 2nd place Arab Club Championship
2019-2020 Jakarta Pertamina Pertamax (Indonesia)
2020-2021 Gwardia Wroclaw (2nd Poland)
2021-2022 AS Cannes (France): 2nd place French Super Cup
2021/2022 Jakarta Pertamina Pertamax (Indonesia)
2022-2023 Al-Nasser Bahrain: 2nd place Arab Club Championship
2023-2024 San Diego Wild (USA): 2nd place National Volleyball Association
2024-2025 Gigantes de Carolina (Puerto Rico)’.
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