Sport > World > Lists > All Time Greatest > Volleyball

There have been some great volleyball players over the years, but it is difficult to compare players from different eras, as they never get to play head to head, under the same conditions. The greatest players can come from all forms of volleyball - indoor and beach, males and females. Read below for a discussion on this question and some players who may fit this description.

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Players of the Century

If you are looking for the greatest ever volleyball players, they may be one of the player's of the century. In 2001, the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) announced the male and female volleyball players of the century. The selections were made by a 12-member panel of volleyball experts, following thousands of nominations by the public. Players were selected based on top results, performance, stability, personal attitude and technical contribution to volleyball. Here are the final lists, and the eventual winners.

Women's Final List

Regla Torres, Cuba (1992-00) - Winner
Lang Ping, China (1981-84)
Inna Ryskal, USSR (1964-76)
Fernanda Venturini, Brazil (1986-96)

Men's Final List

Charles 'Karch' Kiraly, USA — Co-winner
Lorenzo Bernardi, Italy — Co-winner
Hugo Conte, Argentina (1982-00)
Renan Dalzotto, Brazil (1982-88)
Katsutoshi Nekoda, Japan (1964-77)
Josef Musil, Czechia (1952-1968)
Konstantin Reva, USSR (1949-56)
Tomas Wojtowicz, Poland (1974-76)

Volleyball Greatest Players

The list below of 15 great male volleyball players have been compiled using the information above, other published lists and visitor feedback. Players can come from both indoor and beach volleyball. Cast your vote on who you think is the greatest male volleyball player ever. The winner is to be placed on the shortlist of the all time greatest athlete ever (from all sports).

Male Players

Female Players

We are compiling a list of the greatest female volleyball players, which will then be voted on and the winner placed on the shortlist of the all time greatest ever (from all sports). The first stage is to get nominations before the vote is started - below is our current shortlist. The greatest players can come from all forms of volleyball - indoor and beach. If you believe that there is someone missing from this list, please place a comment below, including any relevant details about the person.

Sources

• FIVB Best Volleyball Players of the 20th Century
• Google search 'best volleyball players'

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Related Pages

• volleyball player profiles
• More about volleyball
• All time greatest index of sports
• who you think is the greatest male volleyball player ever

Old Comments

Commenting is closed on this page, though you can read some previous comments below which may answer some of your questions.

• VolleyballFanatic (2013)
  Mireya Luis of Cuba is still the best player of all times.
• Sam (2013)
  How about mireya luis ? Shes the best !!!!!
• MireyaFan (2014)
  i cant believe mireya luis is not on the list.No one can or yet break her skills from 90's,she's the only one! in history as the best woman volley play ever!
• Panamenian MireyaFan (2017)
  You are totally right. I haven't seen no one as Mireya's performance. She is the best ever. Obviusly this page doesn't like Mireya. Not objective information.
• Chandler MireyaFan (2015)
  I think Obama is the best volleyball player
• Alallalalal (2014)
  Ivan Miljkovic!
• NADIG BALACHANDRA (2013)
  There were out standing volleyball players in the past who served India with distinction. I was fortunate to see most of them in action including Jimmy George, Ballu, Sukhpal, Cyril Vellore, Udaykumar .... the list goes on....
  Today there are more changes in the game & Brazil, Poland, Italy, Iran, Japan, Serbia, Russia, Cuba & other countries have shown tremendous merit while playing the game. I am sure India will also catch them very soon provided there is good support from sponsors.
• Cm Pandey pandey (2013)
  I have seen Jimmy George playing. He was amazing, wonderful and all them best player of volleyball in the whole world.
• Gerald Coup (2016)
  Mireya Luis is the greatest, none of the above female are great...not even Lang Ping or present day Zhu Ting o Gamova can compare with her......considering their heights !!
• Maldita (2017)
  i definitely agree with the result.... Regla Torres is the greatest volleyball player of all time..i saw her playing before...and she was superb... i can say i am somehow lucky to witness her playing during her time.. G.O.A.T.
• Arun (2014)
  Jimmy George is the ever best volleyball player in the world. But we miss him. nowadays lots of good players are there but No one can be compare with jimmy bcoz he is the legend. please see his game on youtube then u'll come to know about jimmy. We all miss the super volleyball legend hero..
• Akash Arun (2020)
  JIMMY GEORGE GREAT PLAYER
• Akash (2020)
  best players all. ALL MY PLAYERS ARE FAVORITES
• Márcio Castro (2020)
  Female: Mireya Luis (Cuba)
  Man: Karch' Kiraly (USA)
• BEST TIME
• CUBA female 90
  BRAZIL Man 2000
• Kustard (2020)
  To note include both Mireya luis and Carvajal is a crime lol
• Syed hassan (2018)
  well deserved Regla Torres...
• Ray De Castro (2018)
  Evgenia Artmonova
• Amanda Nemaric (2016)
  Torres. Kiraly, champion at indoor and beach
• Jidhin (2016)
  Jimmy George is the best
• Harshitha pothuru (2015)
  but i want top 10 international players of india
• Sophia (2015)
  neriman özsoy
  Neslihan demir
• Miguel Angel Díaz Piaggio (2015)
  Cecilia Tait from Peru, Gabriela PErez del Solar from PEru and Rosa GArcia from PEru
• MART (2015)
  MIREYA LUIS SHOULD BE ON THE LIST!
• Danielle (2014)
  what about Artamonova and Godina from Russia?
• Ram (2014)
  for me is christina chirichella
• Ruben Chaidez ram (2019)
  SHE IS BY NO MEANS A GOOD PLAYER. ONLY WHEN THE GAMES ARE EASY SHE IS PRESENT. WHEN HER TEAM NEEDS HER, SHE IS ABSENT. I CAN NOT UNDERSTAND WHY SHE IS EVEN ON THE TEAM. DANESI, PAULA AND DE GENARO ARE THE ROCK OF ITALIAN TEAM
• Kelly Clester (2014)
  You forgot to include Yekaterina Gamova of Russia
• MiltownKBs (2014)
  Dalhauser has not won anything in a long time. When he came to Milwaukee in July, he was played uninspired ball. Pathetic to say the least.
• Aleks (2013)
  Phil Dalhauser. Conversation over!
• Balwant singh ballu is greatest player (from Rajat, Mar 2013)
• Yeah all of u are right asof now but nataliya goncharova was their, and even though shes still 23. but she really a great player for me (from rica micaella suan, Mar 2013)
• Where hristo? (from  jeremy trilaksono, Mar 2013)
• Where is dante amaral and Leonal Marshal in the list ?  How could you miss them ? (from sreejith, Mar 2013)
• Jimmy George .. I have heard a lot about him from my childhood itself.  I have seen him playing, when I was a  child, but not remembering the high profiled Jimmy's power hits.  Now a days his younger brother Mr. Sebastian George, who himself dedicated his life for up lifting Kerala Volley.  His works in the facebook is appreciated and you can also find a lot of clear videos of Jimmy, when he was in his heydays.  I really proud to see his sharp attacks on the net... Amazing player from my homeland !!! (from Sreejith, Mar 2013)
• Any one knows any detail about the legend VJ Asir from Nanguneri? (from Melvin Joe, Feb 2013)
• Giba is best player (from sinu samdyan, Feb 2013)
• Jimmy george is proud of india.i. show him on you tube. what a grate game .use of power at a time mindblowing.we miss him.a grate player of indian. (from amit.r.aharma, feb 2013)
• I HAVE SEEN JIMMY PLAYING VOLLEY BALL. HE WAS STYLISH AND AGGRESSIVE IN THE FIELD. HE WAS ABLE TO HOT POWER FULL SMASHES  SOME TIMES IN LEFT HAND ALSO. JIMMY NOT KERALA,S PRIDE. INDIA'S PRIDE (from kottur SENTHILKUMAR, Feb 2013)
• dimitri muserskiy is the present top volleyball player(28/01/13) (from Anoop A Hameed, Feb 2013)
• Mireya Luis is the best ever (from que wilton, Feb 2013)
• Where is surjeet and sukhpal from punjab? (from ashwani kumar, Jan 2013)
• We also missed t.gopal the legend of indian volley ball players (from mahesh, Jan 2013)
• Destinee Hooker is the best in my book, she is just plain amazing, and she always ends up getting the ball. I loved the Olympics because of her! (from Lauren, Jan 2013)
• I am Not too old but Alexander Safin has to be One of the greatest. (from Chris, Jan 2013)
• dimitri muserskiy is the best male volleyball player to me. (from fiell, Jan 2013)
• Ronnie Hamilton - First Scottishnvolleyball player to reach 100 caps. He also represented Scotland at basketball and athletics and was a top rugby player. Best setter in the United Kingdom for more than 20 years (from Gordon smithson, Dec 2012)
• Leonal marshal's jump is amzing (from Guruprasad, Dec 2012)
• Giba is d bestest best player of volleyball. (from Ajay landge, Dec 2012)
• And Sokolova?
• Where is Mireya Luis? She is one of the best female volleyball player. How can you forgot her? from Vatcharasit, Dec 2012)
• Jimmey george is an awasome
• matey kazyiski > all (from fail, Nov 2012)
• SAORI kimura from japan for me is the best,,,she is versatile.. the way she spike,everything was her is PERFECT!!!! (from rjay, Nov 2012)
• Where is Mireya Luis?!! the woman wiht the highest jump in the volleyball world! (from Bayron, Oct 2012)
• Some lists from Laurence Del Prado Solomon (Oct 2012)

The Legendary Indoor Volleyball Player
1. Mirella Luis
2. Regla Torres
3. Lang Ping
4. Ana Moser
5. Yumilka Ruiz
6. Fofao
7. Simona Gioli
8. Fernanda Verturini
9. Virna Diaz
10. Rose Magers-Powell
The Current Greatest Indoor Volleyball Players
1. Sheilla Castro
2. Logan Tom
3. Ekatarina Gamova
4. Sokolova
5. Saori
6. Destinee Hooker
7. Yoshie Takeshita
8. Piccinini
9. Wang
10. Yeon-Koung Kim

• Goody Giba is ever best player.He is the roll model for all. (from Anees, Sept 2012)
• For the men, please add Savin, Zaytsev, Poyarko, GrbiÄ  and now Tetyukhin.
  And for the women, Mireya Luis, Magaly Carvajal, Yeon-Koung Kim, Yoshie Takeshita (Japan and Cuba dominated woman volleyball for decades) (from Momo, Sept 2012)
• Why is not LIOUBOV SOKOLOVA from Russia included? (from serge, Aug 2012)
• The Best and Greatest Volleyball Players of All Time! (from Laurence Del Prado Solomon, Aug 2012)
  1. Mirella Luis
  2. Regla Torres
  3. Lang Ping
  4. Ana Moser
  5. Yumilka Ruiz
  6. Fofao
  7. Sheilla Castro
  8. Ekaterina Gamova
  9. Wang Yimei
  10. Simona Gioli
• Jimmy George is an ever green player, he was the best of all time. (from linson, Aug 2012)
• Jimmy George truely a legend of the game. Considering the height he could jump to spike the ball with his rather modest height was amazing. So I would put him among the top best in the world. Look at the giants these days all above 6.5feet. (from Ajit K, Aug 2012)
• Karch Kiraly is the greatest player of all time!  His versatility and his longevity in the sport are unsurpassed. (from Lori, July 2012)
• Why is Mireya Luis from Cuba not there, she was definitely the best spoiler on the world ? (from @, July 2012)
• Jimmy died very young at 32.  Not many people knew about him.  The opportunities were very few as he was from India, which was a nowhere in the world volleyball map.  He was a genuine talent with very little exposure in the early years, but with his stint with Italian Club his skills were polished ... He also was a great human being. (from George Andrews, July 2012)
• Mr. jimmy george is my ideal person i want to be like him (from nitesh bankhede, July 2012)
• What about s.madasamy and sulaiman from tamilnadu?,,,they had many fans from moscow during 1952 championship (July 2012)
• Where is leonel marshall. Best ever (from gavin peters, July 2012)
• ekaterina gamova is female best spiker all times (from pujka, July 2012)
• Jimmy George is an ever green player in india (from syam, June 2012)
• I am a Freshman in high school and I play volleyball. It is a great sport, but I think that more women should be on this list because we have some GREAT players at my school and I know that some are willing to do whatever it takes to get the ball. We can't be the only girls that feel this way ... (from Destiny, June 2012)
• Joel Despaigne and Mirella Luis from Cuba are not in the list. Mirella Luis is the best volleyball player of all time. (from alex, June 2012)
• Really Jimmy was great player as i heard about him. i have inspired after knowing the history but in deep sorrow to miss him. (from Sandeep Godara, May 2012)
• I'd never heared about jimmy george when i born and brouht up, but when i joined to play volleyballls i started hear his name as a legend, nw i watched all his volleyball actions that are available in internetc and i found myself that others are correct he was a LEGEND of 80's. And am proud to be an Indian, especialy keralite (from jenu, May 2012)
• How about carvajal? the towering middle blocker (from lan, May 2012)
• Jimmy George ever best plater (from mani, May 2012)
• Jimmy George, arguably the greatest sportsperson ever from the Indian state of Kerala (from Sg, April 2012)
• Where leonel marshall superb jumper?
• Areeeee where is dante amarals name in d list? (from ameet, April 2012)
• Where is balwant singh ballu (March 2012)
• Why dante amaral is not included in the male list? (from Qaiser khan, March 2012)
• Where iz leonel marshall ... ? Who can jump like him ... i think he iz a great player of volleyball ... (from ajaydsouza, March 2012)
• Why is Mireya Luis of Cuba missing? even Regla Torres will say that she's the best. (from jopas, Jan 2012)
• Any "greatest" list - whether male or female - that does not include Cuba's Mireya Luis is a mediocre list. (from chris, Jan 2012)
• Mireya Luis is the best volleyball player ever existed in the history of volleyball ... (from Angel Dache, Oct 2011)
• Ivan Miljkovic? (from Al Joe, Sept 2011)
• jimmy george forever: watch footage on youtube (from doc, Aug 2011)
• Jimmy George is the player of my country I love him and i miss him. I tell to my friends to see this name of world players thanking you (from  j.karthick, Aug 2011)
• Why Leonel Marshall is not belong to the male list? (from raymond, Aug 2011)
• What about the Serbian, Ivan Miljkovic? He is the first player in the history of World League to receive Most Valuable Player award four times. (from Jones, July 2011)
• What about Keba Phipps?  The youngest and oldest US Volleyball Olympian (17/33). Multiple Italian Championships, European Championships, Italian MVPs. She is arguably the best US player ever and one of the best in the world. (from Tim, July 2011)
• You forgot Mireya Luis. ONE OF THE BEST EVER. (from troyaleo, July 2011)
• Why don't you include Mirella Luis from Cuba? (from Andres Valdes, July 2011)
• Jimmy George: I never saw his play but i heard about him and he is my native also (June 2011)
• Marianne Steinbrecher is the best brazilian volleyball player sonce 2004 (from Marcio Nogueira, June 2011)
• How about Zheng Meizhu, China (suggested by Tan, June 2011)
• Please put more recent players. Thankyou very much (May 2011)
• Sheilla Castro is the best female volleyball player ever (from Paul, April 2011)