Standouts from four teams in VNL Dream Team

The men’s Volleyball Nations League 2025 Dream Team was announced on Monday, the day after Poland, Italy and Brazil lined up on the podium in Ningbo, while Slovenia finished in fourth place. Members of all four of these teams made it among the ideal seven of the competition:

Setter: Simone Giannelli (Italy)
Opposite: Kewin Sasak (Poland)
Outside hitters: Alessandro Michieletto (Italy), Wilfredo Leon (Poland)
Middle blockers: Jakub Kochanowski (Poland), Jan Kozamernik (Slovenia)
Libero: Maique Reis Nascimento (Brazil)

The Most Valuable Player (MVP) will also be announced on Monday.

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Widely considered one of the best contemporary volleyballers in the world, 28-year-old Italian playmaker Simone Giannelli has collected numerous Most Valuable Player and Best Setter awards at various major international competitions, but now he made the VNL Dream Team for the first time in his career. He captained the Italian squad for the entire duration of VNL 2025 and produced 350 successful sets on the way to his team’s first ever medal in the competition.

At the age of 28, opposite Kewin Sasak made a fabulous debut for the Polish national team and spearheaded the squad on the way to the VNL 2025 gold. In 15 matches, he accumulated 172 points, including 15 serving aces and 16 kill blocks, emerging as the new champions’ most prolific player of the tournament.

Similar to his teammate Giannelli, 23-year-old Alessandro Michieletto has picked up a number of individual awards at big competitions in his career, but this outside hitter nomination for the Dream Team was his first VNL recognition. He was the best scorer in Italy’s campaign for their first VNL medal with a total of 167 points in 11 matches played, including 15 kill blocks. His 26 aces put him in second place in VNL’s best server ranking.

32-year-old Cuban-born star Wilfredo Leon joined the Polish team only for the last competition week of the Preliminary Phase and the Finals, but left his mark with a total of 87 points, including an impressive 12 serving aces, over just seven matches played. His tally included the 16 points that made him the best scorer of Sunday’s emphatic straight-set victory in the gold medal match and probably earned him his first VNL Dream Team nomination to add to a rich collection of individual awards.

Jakub Kochanowski, Poland’s 28-year-old middle blocker, captained his team to the title in VNL 2025 and earned himself a spot on the Dream Team, repeating his individual awards from VNL 2023 and VNL 2024. Like his teammate Leon, Kochanowski appeared only in the last seven games of the squad on the way to the crown and, in addition to his charisma, he chipped in with 55 points, including 14 kill blocks and 5 aces.

Slovenia are also represented on the Dream Team by their middle blocker and captain – 29-year-old Jan Kozamernik – for his first VNL individual award. He led and inspired his team throughout their campaign to reach the VNL semifinals for the third time in history and contributed a total of 103 points, including 8 aces. His 34 kill blocks put him in third place among the best blockers of the competition.

With 119 digs in Brazil’s 15 matches towards the VNL 2025 bronze to his name, 28-year-old libero Maique Reis Nascimento emerged 34 digs clear on top of the best diggers ranking. He also finished runner-up in the best receivers chart with 88 successful passes, and earned himself a spot on the Dream Team as the best libero of the tournament, his first individual award in the VNL.

Volleyball Nations League 2025: all results

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