The 2023 edition of the Volleyball Nations League produced first-time winners in both the women’s and the men’s competitions. The Turkish ladies celebrated their first VNL title and Poland triumphed in the men’s tournament for the first time.
VNL 2023
Year in review: Poland and Türkiye claim first VNL crowns
Here are some interesting facts about this year's edition of the Volleyball Nations League
Published 05:00, 20 Dec 2023
Poland triumph as men’s VNL 2023 champions
- Watch Volleyball Nations League 2023 replays on VBTV
Türkiye on top of the women’s VNL 2023 podium
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With the 2023 women’s Finals held in the American city of Arlington and the men’s Finals held in the Polish city of Gdansk, both the United States and Poland set the stage for a VNL Final Round for the first time in history.
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Despite not participating in the competition, the Philippines played host to one of the men’s pools in the VNL 2023 Preliminary Phase, welcoming eight of the teams to Pasay City.
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Türkiye made it to the semifinals of each of the five editions of the women’s VNL.
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Türkiye has alternated between on and off the podium with every next edition of the women’s VNL. They took silver in the first edition, bronze in the third and gold in this year’s fifth edition, collecting a full set of VNL medals.
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By leading Türkiye to gold in Arlington, Italian coach Daniele Santarelli became simultaneously a reigning world champion with Serbia, a reigning club world champion with Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano and a reigning Volleyball Nations League champion with Türkiye.
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Poland’s men’s team missed the podium only in the first edition of the VNL back in 2018. They have medalled in all of the next four seasons. After their bronze medals in 2019 and 2022, and silver in 2021, Poland claimed their first VNL gold in 2023.
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VNL 2023 was Cuban-born Melisa Vargas’s first competition as a member of the Turkish national team. The opposite led her new squad to a historic title and earned the Most Valuable Player award and a spot on the Dream Team, also featuring setter Diao Linyu (China), outside hitters Li Yingying (China) and Martyna Lukasik (Poland), middle blockers Zehra Gunes (Türkiye) and Yuan Xinyue (China), and libero Gizem Orge (Türkiye).
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Poland’s Pawel Zatorski became the first-ever libero to be honoured as a VNL Most Valuable Player. He earned that recognition in 2023 along with a Dream Team nomination. Setter Micah Christenson (USA), opposite Lukasz Kaczmarek (Poland), outside hitters Aleksander Sliwka (Poland) and Yuki Ishikawa (Japan), and middle blockers David Smith (USA) and Jakub Kochanowski (Poland) claimed the other spots among the tournament’s symbolic perfect seven.
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The women’s national team of China reached a VNL final for the first time and claimed their first silver to add it to the two bronze medals they took back in 2018 and 2019.
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The men’s national team of United States made it to the VNL final for the third time, but once again stopped short of grabbing the gold. Their VNL collection now features three silvers and a bronze.
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In 2023, the women’s national team of Poland became the first-ever Challenger team to top the final standings of the VNL Preliminary Phase in either gender.
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By claiming a 2023 bronze, the women’s national team of Poland became the first-ever Challenger team to win a VNL medal in either gender.
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In 2023, Japan became the first Asian team to earn a men’s VNL medal.
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Japanese star outside Yuki Ishikawa led his team to the bronze as the best scorer, the best attacker, the best server and the best receiver of the competition, hammering out a total of 345 points, including 26 aces and 297 spike kills, and engaging in 94 successful serve receptions. Another Japanese player, libero Tomohiro Yamamoto, was the best digger of VNL 2023, while Argentina’s Agustin Loser and USA’s Mica Christenson topped the statistical charts for best blockers and best setters, respectively.
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Polish Generation O star Magdalena Stysiak was the best scorer of the women’s VNL 2023 with a total of 354 points. With 310 of them achieved in offence, she shared the top of the best attackers’ chart with China’s Li Yingying. Türkiye’s Zehra Gunes and Melissa Vargas were the best blocker and the best server of the competition, respectively. China’s Diao Linyu was the best setter, while Poland’s Maria Stenzel and Martyna Lukasik were the best digger and the best receiver, respectively.
