A stellar performance against Türkiye in the gold medal match cemented American outside hitter Abigail Vander Wal as the Most Valuable Player of the 2023 FIVB Girls’ U19 Volleyball World Championship.

The 16-year-old outside hitter scored 19 points against the Turkish, leading the American comeback and confirming her selection as the best player in the ten-day tournament held in Osijek, Croatia, and Szeged, Hungary.

The tournament matches are available on the Volleyball World YouTube channel.

Vander Wal, who will play collegiate volleyball in the United States at the University of Texas at Austin in two years, also made it to the tournament’s Dream Team alongside one American teammate, two players from Türkiye and one from each of Italy, Croatia and Japan.

“The individual awards mean a lot, and I do appreciate them, but again, this couldn't have been possible without the team effort of this amazing group of girls,” the MVP remarked. “We know each other, we trust each other. We worked toward the goal of becoming world champions for our entire lives, especially in the last weeks. We all wanted this so bad, I am so proud of these girls. We all contributed in some way, and we are the champions of the world. We did not lose a single match on the road to the title, so now it's time to celebrate.”

Girls' U19 World Championship Dream Team

Most Valuable Player: Abigail Vander Wal (USA)
Best Setter: Ilaria Batte (Italy)
Best Opposite: Beren Yesilirmak (Türkiye)
Best Outside Hitters: Abigail Vander Wal (USA) & Teraya Sigler (USA)
Best Middle Blockers: Aurora Papac & Begum Kaczmaz (Türkiye)
Best Libero: Rin Nishikawa (Japan)

Vander Wal was the fifth-best scorer of the tournament with 144 points (117 kills, 13 aces, 14 blocks) scored in eight matches. The American only didn’t get on the court in a pool play match against Mexico and reached double digits in scoring in each of her appearances in the tournament. She tallied 20 or more points on three occasions – in the tournament’s opening match against Korea (26), in the quarterfinals against Brazil (23) and in the semifinals against Italy (21).

Quick links:
FIVB Volleyball Girls' U19 World Championship
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