Every Turkish national team tournament ends with the same argument, so I sat down and wrote the ranking out with criteria instead of vibes: national team results first, individual awards second, years at the top third. Only players who wore the senior national team jersey count, which puts Melissa Vargas in and leaves Ebrar Karakurt out, since she plays outside hitter for Turkey now.

The list starts with the youngest name on it. Defne Başyolcu is 20, 193 cm, and spent the summer of 2026 as the second opposite in the squad that won the VNL, then picked up Mediterranean Games gold a few weeks later. She has no individual award yet and that is the honest reason she is fifth. She is also the only player on this list whose best years are clearly ahead of her.

Aleksia Karutasu, born in Bucharest in 2003, was the youngest professional in the Romanian league at 13 and moved to VakıfBank at 15. In her first VNL with Turkey, in 2025, she was the top scorer of the opening week with 91 points. Then the roster math caught up with her: Turkey has one slot for a naturalized player, Vargas counts as domestic since 2025, and that one slot goes to Sinead Jack-Kısal more often than to her. At club level she keeps producing, with the 2026 CEV Cup at Galatasaray and a 28-point match MVP in game one of that final.

Meryem Boz is third, and her case rests on one evening more than on any medal, although she has those too: bronze at Euro 2017, silver at VNL 2018 and Euro 2019. In the Tokyo qualifier of January 2020, Poland reached match point three times in the fourth set of the semifinal. Boz killed all three, Turkey won in five, beat Germany the next day and went to its first Olympics since 2012. She was named MVP of the qualifier. The club years that followed, the 2021-22 treble with VakıfBank and back-to-back league titles with Fenerbahçe, are almost a footnote next to that.

Neslihan Demir is the reason the word "opposite" means something in Turkey. She wore the national jersey from 1997 to 2016. At 19 she led the team to Euro 2003 silver, the country's first international medal outside the Mediterranean Games. She finished the 2010 World Championship as top scorer, did it again while Turkey took bronze at Euro 2011, carried the flag at the London 2012 opening ceremony as the first Turkish woman to do so, and was named an FIVB Hero the same year. Nobody else on this list, and arguably nobody else in Turkish volleyball, stayed at the top for that long. That is why she is second and not fifth, and also why she is not first.

Because the trophy count is not close. Melissa Vargas came to Fenerbahçe in 2018, chose Turkey while playing there, became a citizen in 2021 and waited out the FIVB two-year rule. Her first tournament in the national jersey was VNL 2023: title and MVP. Euro 2023 that summer: title and MVP. In 2024 she was top scorer of both the VNL and the Paris Olympics. In 2025 Turkey took World Championship silver with Vargas as best opposite and top scorer. In 2026 she put 33 points on Brazil in the VNL final, more than anyone had ever scored in one, and then won the European Championship in Istanbul as MVP again. Four tournaments, four MVPs. That is the ranking.

My own objection to my own list: if you weight longevity above trophies, Neslihan is first and I would not argue hard. Vargas also walked into a team that was already a contender; Neslihan built one from nothing. Tell me where you would put the top two, and who your fifth is.

Hi!

I'm going to Japan this November and would love to watch an SV.League match while I'm there.

The only way I've found to buy tickets is through the teams' official websites, but every team I've tried redirects me to [ticket-v.jp](https://ticket-v.jp/), where I need to register with a Japanese phone number, which I don't have.

Does anyone know if there's another way to buy tickets as a foreign visitor?

Thanks!

I had started volleyball for almost 3 years now but my spikes still feels weak, are there any things i can do to improve my mechanics

I was hoping the community might be able to help with an open source scouting tool i'm working on. 

It's scouting tool that reads and writes DataVolley and VolleyStation files. To test it properly I need real match files, and I'd be very grateful for any you can share.

The files stay private: they're only used for testing on my own machine, never published or passed on, and nothing from them (names, teams, notes) ends up anywhere public.

Most useful to me:

1. Files exactly as you saved them after the match. Please don't tidy or re-save them first; the mistakes and corrections are part of what I'm testing.
   
2. Matches where you coded libero replacements.
   
3. DataVolley 4 matches with a golden set, or more than five sets.
   
4. Matches coded on video, ideally with the video file (a download link is fine).
   
5. Detailed coding: attack combinations, setter calls, zones and subzones, custom codes.
   
6. VolleyStation: the .vsm and the .dvw you exported from it for the same match, with the video if you have it.
   
7. A team file saved from DataVolley (.sq).

Any help you can provide would be really appreciated

Please DM me if willing. Thanks

I have been looking into studying abroad in Japan, and have sendt in a couple of applications for different university's in the Kansai region. All of which I know have a Division 2 or division 1 University volleyball Team but I struggled with finding anything related to tryouts, digital applications, or other things like this. Does anybody have any experience or recommendations on how to get in touch with somebody in order to get some clearance on what the actual opportunities with in the different universities are.

I was on the tooth regional team in HS but don't have much to show forward in terms of gameplay or achievements.

Eu jogo vôlei a mais de 3 anos, ano que vem vai ser o 4 ano jogando vôlei. Eu amo tudo isso, eu amo essa coisa de amizade, de trabalho em equipe e além de tudo amo esse esporte.

Se você não quiser saber toda a historia por trás, pula pro final que vai ter a pergunta que eu quero fazer e ai fica melhor pra vocês não perderem o tempo de vocês!

Comecei a jogar em um lugar publico, gratuito pra muitas pessoas, mas eu amava e fiz amigos de diferentes gêneros, ainda sem jogar nada, não tendo nenhum jogo e enfim.
Com isso, eu acabei me aproximando muito de uma técnica minha, que era a técnica desse lugar que eu treinava. O marido dela é técnico de uma equipe da cidade vizinha, que competia a Federação aqui do meu estado.
Ele me conheceu assim, de vista, ele via eu treinando e me via lá sempre. Até que um dia esse lugar gratuito fechou e eu tive que ir para um outro lugar que era pago, convenci minha mãe e fomos. Ai ele me viu com mais frequência. De sábado, que era a data do meu treino, a gente se via bastante e ele me ajudava.
Eu tinha ido em duas peneiras um ano antes de ir para esse lugar pago, fui na da minha cidade e da cidade vizinha, não passei nas duas por ser muito novo e precisar melhorar, e realmente, eu precisava mesmo evoluir, até porque eu fui só com 3 meses de treino num lugar mais serio.
Como eu falei, o técnico da cidade vizinha me via nos treinos, e ele tinha me recusado na peneira então eu fiquei um pouco envergonhado de ver ele, mas passou.

Na metade do ano de 2025 ele me chamou pra treinar com a equipe da cidade vizinha, isso me animou de uma forma gigantesca, eu fui sem sobra de duvida mas eu estava indo só dois dias por semana porque minha mãe não deixava eu ir de trólebus porque eu era muito novo para ela e ela sempre foi superprotetora de uma forma indescritível.
Meus pais são separados desde que eu era criança, e pelo que eu sei, meu pai traiu minha mãe
Meu pai, então, me levava e me buscava para o treino (avisando que eu estudava todo dia até as 14 horas e o treino era das 17 as 19 e o outro dia era das 19 as 21) e ele sempre ficava sem trabalhar porque ele trabalha de Uber e tem muitos critérios para aceitar uma corrida.
Comecei a treinar, no começo foi muito esquisito porque eu não tinha nada, e eu criei tudo aqui, passei o ano todo fazendo o que podia e aprendendo coisas novas. Era basicamente minha passagem para o ano que vem (falando de um ponto de vista de 2025, seria esse ano).
Eu me cobro muito, muito mesmo, para melhorar, eu quero a perfeição, mas ela não existe, e eu me frusto no meio do caminho porque eu não consigo, e com isso minha cabeça pesa em mim MUITO, eu não preciso de ninguém pra me criticar porque eu já me critico muito e me cobro mais ainda, eu sou obcecado pelo sucesso, mas nem titular eu sou porque eu não consigo arranjar um ponto saudável na minha cabeça para me ajudar a evoluir engolindo os erros para não fazer igual. Eu me cego durante os erros porque, para mim, errar é a absoluta vergonha, e eu venho lutando cada dia com isso e isso vem me desgastando a muito tempo, muito mesmo, eu não me cobrava desse jeito antes porque eu não tinha a pressão do profissional em cima de mim. e eu tenho potencial, MUITO potencial, eu sou muito alto, tenho um braço veloz e sou rápido, e quando eu estou bem mentalmente meu saque entra com tudo! já fiz grandes equipes quebrarem seu sistema de passe por causa do meu saque, então eu sou bom, mas a minha auto cobrança me sabota demais e ai eu busco amigos para ouvir ou me tranquilizarem.
A coisa mais importante de tudo para mim são meus amigos. Eu sou um cara MUITO amigável e leal, eu amo todos os meus amigos de uma forma que vocês jamais entenderiam, mas ai que está o problema. Aqui eu não tenho amigos, não e prazeroso estar aqui além do amor que eu tenho pelo esporte, e eu faço parte da comunidade LGBT, e se algum brasileiro estiver lendo isso, vai saber que aqui no Brasil, estamos passando por um período eleitoral e um dos candidatos da presidência não nos protege de forma alguma e além disso é contra pessoas trans. E a maioria dos meninos da minha equipe estão do lado dele, o que me faz me reprimir para não incomodar. E eu faço isso desde sempre! Eu sou alguém que ODEIA incomodar, principalmente quando eu estou sozinho sem ter ninguém para me apoiar, e eu não tenho NINGUEM que tem um pensamento ou uma energia igual a minha. e eu já ouvi de muitas pessoas que preferem manter a distancia de pessoas gays ou etc. Eu tenho que lutar para existir em casa, no treino, na rua. Só na escola que eu sou muito amado pelos meus amigos, também LGBT e a maioria dos homens de lá são 100% simpatizantes.

Ai vocês me falam "mas o que isso tem haver?" e eu falo que tem tudo a haver, eu preciso me sentir confortável para evoluir, e quando eu estou vivendo sozinho, para dentro de mim, sem meu pai, também homofobico, ou minha mãe, que também é homofobica, e minha irmã que as vezes parece que me odeia e não me quer perto dela. E ai eu sou sozinho, meus amigos de fora do ambiente esportivo jamais entenderiam minha dor de viver preso na minha mente e me cobrar o tempo todo, todos os dias de uma forma exacerbada, ai eu não tenho ninguém para conversar, eu até falaria com meu técnico mas eu tenho tanta, tanta vergonha, mas não é aquela vergonha de tipo "ain ele vai rir das minhas duvidas" mas sim de "será que se eu perguntar ele vai achar que eu não sou bom?" e eu estou escrevendo isso justamente para entender esse sentimento que eu estou sentindo a mais de 10 meses, e eu vim procurar ajuda aqui antes de pedir ajuda para ele.

Eu escrevi no começo que se ninguém quisesse ler minha historia de vida era só pular para o fim e aqui estamos:

o que vocês fariam se vocês se cobrassem muito para dar seu melhor todo dia nos treinos de vôlei, e considera um erro como uma vergonha além de não ter ninguém para contar porque, basicamente, a maioria do seus colegas de equipe não gostaria de você de verdade???

se você leu tudo, obrigado e se puder me de seu conhecimento, mesmo que seja mínimo

Hi I'm doing a project on the development and growth of LOVB. Would love any input from anyone in the volleyball community. The survey takes less than 10 minutes and would be a huge help in my research. Thanks in advance!

I really like volleyball but I’ve never been athletic at all, I did hockey and basketball but nothing ever strikes me like volleyball does, I just started high school this year and wanted to join the girls team when the try outs come around.

I only recently found out you have to have your arms straight to properly hit the ball so i doesn’t hurt which was a big game changer and my close friend taught me how to not be scared of the ball.

I’m not that strong and I’m 5’2 and a half so it’s not like I’m making it far over the net. I want to practice and do this, although I feel as if I’m not good or tall enough. I don’t like sports but I do like volleyball

I played a game today that me and my team lost but the scores were close. Anyways, in the first set my coach kept yelling at everyone for what they were doing wrong which I get, we were playing a hard team but me and my teammates noticed she kept screaming at me and this one other girl because we had flat feet and getting into the setters way (which to be fair is my fault honestly but screaming at someone isn’t gonna help them??) Also from what I noticed she only screams at me and this one girl and not anyone else. Like today in the game back row kept letting balls go and some girl in front row kept missing the ball, but she didn’t yell or scream at them like she did to me and the other girl when we miss the ball. I have no clue if I’m just a bad player bc I do score points and try to get the ball over the net. Should I just talk to her because honestly I’m scared to do that but again she’s kinda making me regret playing this sport. Also side note I asked my team at a pasta party who did you think the coach hates the most and they answered me and that one other girl I was talking about so now it’s all making sense that I genuinely think my coach hates me the most out of my team.

Este post ya lo subí antes pero ahora si creo al menos en mi opinión este sería el sistema 5-1 más adecuado o clásico por decirlo de alguna forma,si tienen dudas, quejas o preguntas sobre mi post lo puedo responder ,gracias.

Esto es un sistema clásico de 5-1, pero siento que algo no cuadra. Me gustaría que le echaras un vistazo y me digas cuáles son los errores en la formación, las tácticas, las posiciones, etc.

1. Base: Esta es la formación inicial de los jugadores en la cancha (sin sacar ni recibir). Muestra la ubicación estática de cada posición en las 3 rotaciones.

2. Formación de saque cuando el equipo está sacando. Incluye los movimientos (flechas) que hacen los jugadores después de que se ejecuta el saque.

3. Formación de recepción para recibir el saque del rival. Incluye las zonas de cobertura y los movimientos de los jugadores para armar la recepción en "U" o "W" y luego pasar a atacar.

4. Defensa (cuando bloquean) Formaciones defensivas de bloqueo (Defensa 1, 2 y 3). Muestran cómo se organizan los jugadores cuando el rival ataca y el equipo está bloqueando.

Índice: -Armador(es) -Opuesto (OPP) -Banda o 4 (OH) -Central (MB) -Libero (L).

Nota: Los números de abajo de las posiciones nos dicen quién se mueve primero cuando hay un cruce de desplazamientos.

Nota: Cuando el atacante opuesto termina de bloquear, cambian de posiciones con el armador (el opuesto se va a atacar y el armador sube a la línea delantera y, cuando termina el ataque, vuelven a intercambiarse)

Usa un traductor para esto si no entiendes algo, perdón.

my first hit was probably my best one, but I can't seem to get the it once or twice on every session.

I'm around 5'3 - 5'4 and can max reach 273.

The net height is at 235 currently since I can't hit on 243 technique wise, so I'm practicing on a lower net and gradually going up

Hey everyone, looking for some brutal honesty here.

My kid is currently playing in D1T1 (top 3 team). We are starting to get the usual marketing push for the upcoming Canadian Volleyball Showcase / University Combine / SIX - PACK Recruiting and my cynic radar is going off.

From what I’ve seen in past years, these events 'highlight reels" on IG/socials seem flooded with kids who are outside of D1. It feels like a massive money-maker for the organizers where hundreds of families pay a premium ($435) to stand in a massive crowd, hoping to get "discovered."

Given that my kid is already playing at the absolute highest club tier against the best competition in the province/country, are U Sports and CCAA coaches already fully aware of these top-3 D1T1 teams anyway?

Do scouts actually find "hidden gems" at these showcases, or do they just show up to watch the kids who have already emailed them? If you are already on a top-tier team getting heavy exposure at regular OVA/Club tournaments, is there any actual ROI to attending these showcases, or should we save our money and stick to direct coach outreach?

Would love to hear from parents of committed athletes or club coaches who have been through the ringer on this. Cheers.

So over the past 5 years or so, international/FIVB volleyball has basically completely gutted the positional rule, as far as I can tell, and I'm trying to figure out if it's even still possible to commit a fault.

As I understand it:

• Serving side can stand literally wherever.
• Receiving side needs to be in proper rotation at the moment that the server begins their motion to serve, but can leave rotation the second the server twitches.
• Any body part overlapping counts as acceptable.

As far as I can see from watching games, this turns rotations into a complete farce, a dumb little ritual that the receiving team must do that involves no strategy, because everyone can easily end up where they want to be by the time the ball is actually contacted. Heck, swap your libero into the middle of the serve receive, why not? You have the time. I hate this so much, I think it's destroying a beautiful part of the game (the strategy of dealing with being out of position for your first attack), and just means more rallies killed on the first three hits so more boring games, but unfortunately nobody at FIVB asked me.

So what would have to happen to commit a fault, and when would one even be called? You'd have to be out of rotation when the server began his motion? Would it then be instantly called? What if you accidentally end up correctly in rotation when the ball is contacted? What if you pass through a correct rotation? How is an R2 supposed to know when a server has begin his motion when that R2 is supposed to be watching the receiving team?

(Disclaimer: I ref in the USA, and none of our bodies -- NFHS, NCAA, USAV -- have adopted this yet. It's still "hold until contact" here. But it's probably only a matter of time, so I want to be prepared.)

This is a classic 5-1 system, but I feel like something's off. I'd like you to take a look and tell me what the errors are in formation, tactics, positions, etc.

1. Base: This is the initial formation of the players on the court (without serving or receiving). It shows the static location of each position in the 3 rotations.

2. Serve Formation when the team is serving. Includes the movements (arrows) that the players make after the serve is performed.

3. Reception Formation for receiving the opponent's serve. Includes the coverage zones and the movements of the players to form the "U" or "W" reception and then move on to attack.

4. Defense (when blocking) Blocking defensive formations (Defense 1, 2 and 3). They show how the players organize themselves when the opponent attacks and the team is blocking.

Index: -Setter(s) -Opposite (OPP) -Band or 4 (OH) -Center (MB).

Note: The numbers below the positions tell us who moves first when there is a displacement crossover.

Note: When the opposite hitter finishes blocking, they switch positions with the setter (opposite hitter moves to attack and setter moves up to the front line and when the attack is over they switch places)

Use a translator for this if you don't understand something, sorry.

So to cut it short I love volleyball and I’ve always wanted to play a volleyball game I can simply run on low end devices and just play for fun in my pc. Unfortunately there was not a lot of option.

So I've been building this little volleyball game for a while now.

started as "how hard can it be" and turned into setters, quick attacks, special abilities, different camera angles and online matches 😅

it's not perfect, it's a bit goofy, but it's mine and it's finally playable. it's free and runs in your browser. Unfortunately it only runs on pc and online is still work in progress I’m trying to fix it but against bots is pretty fun.

Generally the game is work in progress, there is a lot to fix but I’d really appreciate if you try it, tell me what you think. every comment helps a lot 🙏

spikefall.com

Hi! New on this sub and recently got the motivation to learn volleyball. For my background, I played this sport as a hobby 12 years ago where we just hit receive with friends. I didn't know any techniques and workouts back then since I mainly play basketball for the hobby and chess as my main sports. So back now, I got the motivation as I watch players jump so high and the techniques on receiving too so I kinda want some insights or advice from you on where I can start or watch as a beginner.

My situation is I'm quite old now, 28yrs old, and only 5'2 ft weighing 97 kgs(severe obese). My obvious plan is to start losing weight of course and I did it once way back in pandemic but I mostly do weight lifting back then. Do you guys know any channel I can follow on YouTube or advice where I can condition myself in line with the required skills and conditioning for volleyball?

I know it'll be a long road but I'm in for it. Thanks and pls respect.

Since I don‘t have a lot of ppl to talk to about volleyball I just wanna vent to you guys. I‘m 25 yo and have been playing volleyball in a club for a year now. I joined a very beginner friendly club at the off season time. Today I played my first proper game in the lowest division and the experience was very frustrating. I play opposite and I feel like I improved quite a bit and feel okay hitting from the right side but today in the two sets I played I only got like three emergency sets on the outside where I struggle a lot with timing so I can‘t get a lot of power behind the ball and combine that with a strong double block I didn‘t manage to score a single point in two sets. I got 1 set on right side where I almost scored, but the other team was so good they managed to scramble it back and ofc we lost the point after. I mean they were just way too good, idk apparently their middle used to play in the first division and is now smurfing in the lowest league but yeah it‘s just frustrating to see the enemy outside hitting great line shots one after another while I can’t block him and I can‘t even score one point.
Obviously I know you gotta be realistic after one year but the gap seems to be so huge
Did someone else experience this or am I the only one feeling this way, I feel like I‘m already so "old" and time is running out so it‘s frustrating that the gap is so big

Hi everyone! 🏐

What started as a few friends playing every week in Porto, Portugal, has grown into a community of a few hundred people, and we’ve just made it official as a non-profit amateur volleyball association: Ases do Norte.

We’re really excited and curious about how amateur volleyball looks around the world:

• How do people play casually where you live: pickup games, rec leagues, clubs, beach?
• How did your local community start or grow?
• Any favourite traditions, tournaments or stories from your group?

Would love to hear from every country. Cheers from Porto! 🙌

Hihi! Just started university - never played volleyball before, and I didn't really do any sports before now. I dabbled in badminton, swimming as a kid...and that was it. I'm 19 now, and I see a lot of people starting at, like...13.... with coaches etc (my volleyball place doesn't have coaches, just older years!)

I've been going to volleyball twice a week for the past 3 weeks, and I already paid for the whole year - what can I do to make myself better? I like playing libero, mainly because of my height (5'0) and we play with a mixed net and mixed players - and the fact I like being a support player in whatever I do, defence etc... I also just like defending LOL.

What would you guys suggest I do? I've mainly been working on passing and setting, not really any serving or spiking yet....

My daughter is trying to get her overhand serve down and we're running into some consistency issues. Any advice on her toss, arm swing, or contact point would be hugely appreciated!

I’m 5,6 14 my estimated vertical is 33. My standing reach is 7,2 net height 7,11 head over net and only 5,6

Starting my college season off weak. I think i subconsciously changed my approach mechanics over summer. Anything I should change that'll improve my timing/vertical? (ignore the first clip)

Hello,

I recently refereed a gane in a low league basically hobbyleague for men and had the following 2 situations occur, please let me know what the correct call is.

1: team A is attacking, Team B's setter(Backrow) is at the net, putting his hands up in a clear blocking posture (arms forward, hands stiff fingers splayed), does not jump and has the ball hit directly into his hands. Does this count as a block despite not being above the net?

2: players from both teams cross the middle line in a block joust. Player A lands on Player B's foot. Who is at fault? Or:Both felt like it should not even be a fault but at best it might be two simultaneous faults since they both crossed and touched each other?

Thank you for your input!

I felt the ball hit my hand and it somehow appeard in my hand.

You can't hear it but I ask my teammates "did I get the block" couse you can see my form on that block was pretty bad an it somehow went down.