New Season, New Teams – SCMU Craiova: full squad for the 2025/2026 season, player arrivals and departures

SCMU Craiova, the romanian volleyball team that finished third in the previous season of Romania’s Divizia A1, has officially announced its complete squad for the 2025/2026 championship. The team will also compete in the CEV Cup this season, making these roster updates particularly important.

Coach Dănuț Pascu Leads the Team Since 1996

Dănuț Pascu, 62, has been coaching the romanian team since 1996. Initially, he led CS Universitatea Craiova for ten years before taking charge of the newly founded SCMU Craiova in 2007, which inherited Universitatea’s legacy and records.

This summer, Pascu brought in new players to almost every position, with the exception of the middle blockers. The trio from last season – Gojko Cuk, Vlad Cuciureanu, and Dan Silvășan-Pașca – remains intact. This continuity proved crucial as SCMU was very effective in blocking during the previous championship.

Jucători care au venit la SCMU Craiova pentru sezonul 2025/ 2026

New Signings: Opposites and Outside Hitters

Opposites (Universal Players)

• Edin Mehic (Bosnia, 26) joins from Hylde/Halmstadt in Sweden, where he won the Super Cup last autumn. He is also a Bosnian national champion.

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• Strahinja Brzakovic (Serbia, 31) arrives from CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria. He was runner-up in the Bulgarian league last season and has won the Swiss championship (2020/2021) and Swiss Cup (2023).

Outside Hitters

• Petr Sulista (Czech Republic, 32) played the second half of last season for Rapid București. A former Czech national team member, Sulista won the Czech championship (2014), Czech Cup (2021), and the Bahrain Cup.

• Vitor Baesso (Brazil, 27) arrives from Italian Serie A2 side Abba Pineto, finishing 8th last season. He has also played in Tunisia with Esperance Sportive de Tunis, winning multiple titles including the African Champions Cup.

The other two outside hitters are Romanian players Andrei Mihălescu (29), in his second season with SCMU, and homegrown talent Andrei Capotă (21), who joined the senior team in 2023.

Setters and Libero

• Eduard Catrina (28) begins his second season as setter for his hometown team. He was key in last season’s playoff success when SCMU secured bronze medals.

• Adrian Chirino (23), a Cuban setter, was signed this summer. He previously played for Explorări Baia Mare and had only played in Cuba before 2024.

• Amane Kumagai (24), Japanese libero, joined from Știința București. He was one of the best reception players in the last championship. Kumagai is backed up by young Romanian libero Alexandru Cosma (17), a rising star from the U19 Balkan Championship.

Departures and Roster Changes

Following the bronze-winning 2024/2025 season, SCMU Craiova parted ways with six foreign players: setter Svetoslav Stankov, opposites Dimitar Dulchev and Bojan Strugar, outside hitters Corey Chavers and Marin Dukic, and libero Korneliusz Banach.

Jucători care au plecat de la SCMU Craiova

Compliance with the Romanian Player Rule

SCMU Craiova will maintain six Romanian players in their roster, the same as last season. This ensures the team easily complies with the league’s rule requiring at least two Romanian players on the court during matches.

Coach Pascu can plan different tactics based on the Romanian players’ usage. Since two of the three middle blockers are Romanian (Cuciureanu and Silvășan-Pașca), one will always be on court. For the second Romanian player, either outside hitter Andrei Mihălescu or setter Eduard Catrina can start.

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Lotul formației SCMU Craiova pentru sezonul 2025/ 2026

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