Volleywood aka the world’s largest volleyball blog proudly announces the complete list of nominees for THE 2016 BEST AWARDS which recognizes the world’s best players for their achievements this year. The winners will be determined via global fan voting which will start on November 4th, 2016.

The winners will be announced on November 18th, 2016. Each nominee must have successfully and efficiently competed in at least 1 of the major FIVB tournament (WOMEN: 2016 Grand Prix & 2016 Club World Championship / MEN: 2016 World League & 2016 Club World Championship) and in the 2016 Olympics.

FEMALE NOMINEES

BEST OUTSIDE HITTER:

Zhu Ting (China)
Brankica Mihajlovic (Serbia)
Tatiana Kosheleva (Russia)
Jordan Larson (USA)

BEST MIDDLE BLOCKER:

Milena Rasic (Serbia)
Foluke Akinradewo (USA)
Thaisa Menezes (Brazil)
Robin De Kruijf (The Netherlands)

BEST LIBERO:

Kayla Banwarth (USA)
Silvija Popovic (Serbia)
Debby Stam-Pilon (The Netherlands)
Lin Li (China)

BEST OPPOSITE HITTER:

Tijana Boskovic (Serbia)
Lonneke Sloetjes (The Netherlands)
Nataliya Goncharova (Russia)
Sheilla Castro (Brazil)

BEST SETTER:

Maja Ognjenovic (Serbia)
Dani Lins (Brazil)
Laura Dijkema (The Netherlands)
Alisha Glass (USA)

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Zhu Ting (China)
Tijana Boskovic (Serbia)
Maja Ognjenovic (Serbia)
Lonneke Sloetjec (The Netherlands)

BEST COACH:

Lang Ping (China)
Giovanni Guidetti (The Netherlands)
Karch Kiraly (USA)
Zoran Terzic (Serbia)

MOST INSPIRING TEAM OF THE YEAR:

Thailand
Cameroon
PSL F2 Logistics Manila
The Netherlands

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDEES:

No Voting Required

Ekaterina Gamova (Russia)
Sheilla Castro (Brazil)
Antonella Del Core (Italy)
Logan Tom (USA)

MALE NOMINEES

BEST OUTSIDE HITTER:

Wilfredo Leon (Cuba)
Ricardo Lucarelli (Brazil)
Osmany Juantorena (Italia)
Michal Kubiak (Poland)

BEST MIDDLE BLOCKER:

Max Holt (USA)
Lucas Saatkamp (Brazil)
Robertlandy Simon (Cuba)
Srecko Lisinac (Serbia)

BEST LIBERO:

Sergio Santos (Brazil)
Erik Shoji (USA)
Jenia Grebennikov (France)
Massimo Colaci (Italia)

BEST OPPOSITE HITTER:

Wallace De Souza (Brazil)
Matt Anderson (USA)
Ivan Zaytsev (Italia)
Bartosz Kurek (Poland)

BEST SETTER:

Micah Christenson (USA)
Simone Gianelli (Italia)
Benjamin Toniutti (France)
Bruno Rezende (Brazil)

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Ivan Zaytsev (Italia)
Bruno Rezende (Brazil)
Marko Ivovic (Serbia)
Simone Gianelli (Italia)

BEST COACH:

Bernardinho Rezende (Brazil)
Laurent Tillie (France)
John Speraw (USA)
Nikola Grbic (Serbia)

MOST INSPIRING TEAM OF THE YEAR:

Iran
Canada
Serbia
Sada Cruzeiro

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDEES:

No Voting Required

Reid Priddy (USA)
Antonin Rouzier (France)
Sergio Santos (Brazil)
Gavin Schmitt (Canada)