Aleks Nikolov 67 points (!) clear on top of the best scorers ranking

2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship silver medalists Bulgaria topped as many as four of the seven official individual statistical rankings of the competition. Three of those top positions were earned by members of the same family, the Nikolov brothers Aleksandar and Simeon. 21-year-old outside hitter Aleks Nikolov was by far the best scorer and the best attacker of the tournament, while his 18-year-old brother Moni emerged as the best setter. Bulgaria’s captain Aleks Grozdanov shined as the best blocker. USA’s Gabriel Garcia headlined the best servers chart. Belgium’s Gorik Lantsoght came out on top of the best diggers ranking, while Mattia Bottolo of the world champions’ squad of Italy emerged as the best receiver.

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With 173 points to his name, Aleks Nikolov topped the best scorers individual ranking, as many as 67 points clear of the next most prolific scorers - Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers and his Czech counterpart Patrik Indra. Nikolov made his best scoring performance in the semifinal against Czechia, when he impressed with 31 points.

Aleks Nikolov was also the convincing leader of the best attackers ranking, with 154 spike kills, followed by Reggers and Indra with 93 each. The Bulgarian outside earned a well-deserved spot on the World Championship Dream Team.

Talented playmaker and rising star Moni Nikolov topped the best setters chart with 236 successful sets, surpassing the previous leader, Iran’s 22-year-old Arshia Behnezhad, with his performance in Sunday’s final. Arshia finished second in that ranking with 222 successful sets in five games played. World champion and Dream Team setter Simone Giannelli of Italy climbed to third place in the chart with 200.

One of the Dream Team middle blockers, Bulgarian captain Aleks Grozdanov, surged to the top of the best blockers ranking with 18 kill blocks under his belt, leaving Italy’s middle Roberto Russo in second place with 16, and Slovenia’s middle Jan Kozamernik in third with 15 out of four matches.

2025 world champions Italy managed to occupy the top of one of the charts. Outside Mattia Bottolo registered 40 successful receptions and headed the best receivers ranking. His Czech counterpart Lukas Vasina took the runner-up spot in the table with 38 successful receptions, while 22-year-old outside Luka Marttila of Finland managed to keep his place in the top three with 37, accumulated in just four matches.

American opposite Gabi Garcia remained on top of the best servers chart through the end of the competition. He fired 17 aces in five matches played. With five aces in the gold medal match alone, Italian opposite Yuri Romano piled up 15 in total to finish second in that ranking. The third place was shared by Turkish outside Efe Mandiraci and Dutch opposite Michiel Ahyi with 13 aces each.

19-year-old Belgian libero Gorik Lantsoght also kept his position on top of the best diggers chart. He accounted for 43 digs in five matches played, one more than the second best defenders, his Turkish and Czech counterparts Berkay Bayraktar and Milan Monik.

2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship: all results

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