Girls' U18 World Championship 2021

MVP Suvorova leads U18 Worlds Dream Team

The Russian middle blocker wins the most prestigious individual award of the tournament

Published 02:55, 30 Sept 2021

Natalia Suvorova’s play was pivotal to Russia’s victory at the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U18 World Championship in Durango and the middle blocker was rewarded with the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award of the tournament that was played in Durango, Mexico.

Appearing in her second U18 World Championship, the 1.91m-tall Suvorova helped Russia improve from seventh in 2019 to take gold this year. A member of the team that won the U18 European Championship last year, when she was the best middle blocker and best hitter, Suvorova completed a prolific international campaign in 2021 after taking bronze at the U20 World Championship last July.

The Russian was in tremendous form since the start of the tournament in Durango as she was her team’s top scorer in five of their seven matches, including the gold medal match, in which she scored 12 points for the champions. The Russian ended the tournament ranked first in blocks (33) and hitting efficiency (66.97%) and was sixth among the scorers (112).

Also making it to the U18 World Championship Dream Team were setter Viktoriia Kobzar (Russia), opposite Giulia Viscioni (Italy), outside hitters Julia Ituma (Italy) and Mckenna Wucherer (USA), middle blocker Hena Kurtagic (Serbia) and libero Emma Barbero (Italy).