Poland (POL) vs. China (CHN) women - Pool 3 - Preliminary Phase #4993435

Magdalena Stysiak trying to penetrate Li Yingying’s block

Poland’s Generation O star Magdalena Stysiak emerged as the best scorer of women’s Volleyball Nations League 2023 Preliminary Phase. Her teammate Agnieszka Korneluk, China’s Li Yingying, Bulgaria’s Maria Yordanova and Mila Pashkuleva, Canada’s Brie King and Thailand’s Chatchu-On Moksri led the rest of the individual rankings after three weeks of competition.

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To match Poland’s first place in the final standings of the Preliminary Phase, 22-year-old opposite Stysiak finished first among the best scorers. In 12 matches played she tallied 206 kills in attack, 32 stuffs in blocking and four aces in serving towards a total 242 points, two clear of Chinese outside hitter Li Yingying and three clear of Dominican Republic’s Gaila Gonzalez.

China (CHN) vs. Netherlands (NED) women - Pool 2 - Preliminary Phase #4833929

Li Yingying

23-year-old Li Yingying, however, topped the best attackers’ chart with 214 successful spikes, followed by Canada’s Alexa Gray with 208 and Stysiak with 206.

Another Polish player, middle blocker and team captain Agnieszka Korneluk, finished as the best blocker of the Preliminary Phase on a total of 43 stuffs, four clear of second-placed Mira Todorova of Bulgaria.

Bulgaria did not make it to the Finals and, in fact, they barely survived in the VNL for next season, but two of their rising stars topped individual rankings at the end of the league round. 21-year-old outside Maria Yordanova emerged as the best server with 19 aces to her name, followed by Japan’s Sarina Koga with 17 and Germany’s Camilla Weitzel with 16, while 19-year-old libero Mila Pashkuleva proved to be the best defender with 176 digs, beating the next best Izabela Stimac of Croatia by 16.

Bulgaria (BUL) vs. Poland (POL) women - Pool 5 - Preliminary Phase #5515273

Mila Pashkuleva and Maria Yordanova in action

In the best receivers’ chart, however, Thailand’s 23-year-old outside Chatchu-On Moksri beat the 22-year-old Croatian libero by just one successful pass, 82 to 81.

Yet another player who will not have the opportunity to extend her shining performance to the Finals, Canada’s playmaker Brie King, topped the Preliminary Phase ranking for best setters with 266 successful sets, just two clear of second-best Pia Kastner of Germany and 15 clear of third-best Diao Linyu of China.