Katerina Giota

Katerina Giota (born July 3, 1990, in St. Petersburg, Russia) is a female professional volleyball player from Greece, who is a member of the Greece women's national volleyball team. At club level, she plays in Hellenic Volley League for Greek club AEK Athens since May 2023.

Career
Katerina Giota in 2002 moved with her mother from Russia to Greece at an age of 12 years old and they were established in the Greek city Grevena, where she obtained the Hellenic citizenship. From her younger age, she was engaged in swimming, so she continued in Greece, but some day she was spotted by coach Memtsas and was persuaded to try volleyball. In this way she started her rich career in volleyball, which was to lead her into one of the best ever central blockers in the history of the certain sport in Greece.

Thus in 2004 she joined G.S. Grevena, a club of her hometown, where she remained up to 2006 when she removed to 1st division A.S. Aris Thessaloniki. Two more years in Aris until her transfer to G.S. Iraklis Kifisia. With this club Katerina Giota won twice the 3rd place of the Hellenic Championship.

In 2013 Olympiacos managed to convince Katerina Giota to be a member of the Piraeus club, after three failed attempts. Until then Giota used to wear her favourite No 13 on her shirt, in every of her previous teams. But in her new club she was told that this number does not exist in any of Olympiacos sport sections, as it represents their hot rivals from Athens. So, Katerina Giota chose the No 1 shirt, and kept the No 13 only for the Hellenic National Squad.

Since then Katerina Giota has won at international level with Olympiacos Piraeus the golden medal of the 2017–18 CEV Women's Challenge Cup, being the best blocker of that competition with 33 winning block points and the silver medal of the 2016–17 CEV Women's Challenge Cup as well. In domestic competitions, Giota has won 7 Hellenic Championships and 6 Hellenic Cups, being all these years a permanent member of her squad as central blocker.

In January 2021 the Greek championship was uncertain whether it would continue due to covid-19 disease, and Olympiacos allowed their players to move abroad (despite their contracts) until next summer. Thus, Katerina Giota signed in Vasas SC Budapest, with which she won the 3rd place of the Hungarian championship 2020-21. She returned to her beloved Olympiacos Piraeus, where she stayed for two seasons, twice winning second place in the Hellenic League and in the summer of 2023 she signed with AEK Athens, as the then coach of the Piraeus team, Lorenzo Miceli, decided that she could no longer help the red and white team.

International career
In 2006, at the age of 16 Katerina Giota, when she was playing for Aris Thessaloniki, was selected for the Hellenic Junior Women's National team, but her first European appearance took place in the preliminary round of the 2008 Junior Women European Championship.

Since 2010 she is a member of the Hellenic Women's National Team with participation in the preliminary round of the 2011 European Championship, and she remains a basic member of the National Squad up to now, having competed in the Mediterranean Games of 2013 and 2018, as well as in any other competition, such as the preliminary or final stages of European and World Championships, in the European League and in many friendlies as well. In 2015 and in 2016 Katerina Giota won the bronze medal in Golden European League, and in 2018 Mediterranean Games she won the silver medal as a permanent member of the Hellenic National Team.

National Team

 * 2015 Bronze medal with cup.svg European Golden League
 * 2016 Bronze medal with cup.svg European Golden League
 * 2018 Silver medal with cup.svg Mediterranean Games

International competitions

 * 2016/2017 Silver medal with cup.svg CEV Women's Challenge Cup, with Olympiacos S.F. Piraeus
 * 2017/2018 Gold medal with cup.svg CEV Women's Challenge Cup, with Olympiacos S.F. Piraeus

National championships

 * 2011/2012 Bronze medal with cup.svg Hellenic Championship, with Iraklis Kifisia
 * 2012/2013 Bronze medal with cup.svg Hellenic Championship, with Iraklis Kifisia
 * 2013/2014 Gold medal with cup.svg Hellenic Championship, with Olympiacos Piraeus
 * 2014/2015 Gold medal with cup.svg Hellenic Championship, with Olympiacos Piraeus
 * 2015/2016 Gold medal with cup.svg Hellenic Championship, with Olympiacos Piraeus
 * 2016/2017 Gold medal with cup.svg Hellenic Championship, with Olympiacos Piraeus
 * 2017/2018 Gold medal with cup.svg Hellenic Championship, with Olympiacos Piraeus
 * 2018/2019 Gold medal with cup.svg Hellenic Championship, with Olympiacos Piraeus
 * 2019/2020 Gold medal with cup.svg Hellenic Championship, with Olympiacos Piraeus
 * 2020/2021 Bronze medal with cup.svg Vasas Budapest
 * 2021/2022 Silver medal with cup.svg Hellenic Championship, with Olympiacos Piraeus
 * 2022/2023 Silver medal with cup.svg Hellenic Championship, with Olympiacos Piraeus

National trophies

 * 2013/2014 Simple gold cup.svg Hellenic Cup, with Olympiacos Piraeus
 * 2014/2015 Simple gold cup.svg Hellenic Cup, with Olympiacos Piraeus
 * 2015/2016 Simple gold cup.svg Hellenic Cup, with Olympiacos Piraeus
 * 2016/2017 Simple gold cup.svg Hellenic Cup, with Olympiacos Piraeus
 * 2017/2018 Simple gold cup.svg Hellenic Cup, with Olympiacos Piraeus
 * 2018/2019 Simple gold cup.svg Hellenic Cup, with Olympiacos Piraeus
 * 2023/2024 Silver medal with cup.svg Hellenic Cup, with AEK Athens

Individuals

 * 2015/16 Hellenic Championship - Main period: MVP
 * 2014/15 Hellenic Championship - Main period: League All stars squad
 * 2012/13 Hellenic Championship - 4th day: MVP
 * 2014/15 Hellenic Championship - 21st day: MVP
 * 2016/17 Hellenic Championship - 12th day: MVP
 * 2017/18 CEV Women's Challenge Cup: Best blocker
 * 2023/24 Hellenic Championship - 10th day: MVP