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Volleyball: the greatest of all time

GOAT Rank's data-driven ranking

Olympic gold, World Championships and MVP awards indoor and on sand. Each players below is scored on verified career data and normalised against the full Volleyball reference cohort — no shortlists, no unverified provisional numbers.

Quick answer

According to GOAT Rank's current model, Karch Kiraly is the highest-ranked of the players in Volleyball, with an in-sport GOAT Score of 95.4. Next are Regla Bell (91.4), Marlenis Costa (90.7).

How the GOAT Score is calculated →

51 records fall below the data threshold and are excluded from this ranking. Eligibility rules →

Category
#AthleteEraOlympic goldsWorld ChampionshipsWorld Cup titlesBeach tour winsMVP awardsFormGOAT
1
🇺🇸Karch KiralyRetired
1981–2007311148795.4
2
🇨🇺Regla BellRetired
1990–2004——2——91.4
3
🇨🇺Marlenis CostaRetired
1988–20003—2——90.7
4
🇷🇺Lyudmila BuldakovaRetired
1960–1972—————89.6
5
🇧🇷Ricardo SantosRetired
1995–2016—————89.5
6
🇧🇷Fabiana OliveiraRetired
2000–2016—————89.4
7
🇧🇷GibaRetired
1995–201313——589.3
8
🇨🇺Mireya LuisRetired
1984–20003—2——89.3
9
🇧🇷Fábio Luiz MagalhãesRetired
2005–2021—————89.2
10
🇺🇸Sinjin SmithRetired
1977–1996—————89.1
11
🇧🇷Dante AmaralRetired
1999–20171—2——88.9
12
🇧🇷Márcio AraújoRetired
1998–2016—————88.7
13
🇮🇹Luca CantagalliRetired
1985–2000—————88.7
14
🇮🇹Taismary AgüeroRetired
1996–2012—————88.7
15
🇧🇷André NascimentoRetired
1997–2012——1——88.7
16
🇨🇳Zhu TingActive
2013–present————988.6
17
🇦🇷Luciano De CeccoActive
2006–present—————88.4
18
🇧🇷FofãoRetired
1990–2012—————88.4
19
🇷🇸Maja OgnjenovićActive
2002–present—————88.4
20
🇳🇴Christian SørumActive
2014–present—————88.4
21
🇧🇷Thaísa MenezesRetired
2004–2023—————88.4
22
🇷🇺Viacheslav KrasilnikovActive
2010–present—————88.4
23
🇧🇷Fabiana ClaudinoRetired
2002–20212————88.3
24
🇷🇺Yelena ChebukinaRetired
1984–1996——1——88.3
25
🇮🇹Marco BracciRetired
1988–2001—————88.3
26
🇮🇹Simona GioliRetired
1996–2016—————88.2
27
🇧🇷William ArjonaRetired
2000–2021——1——88.2
28
🇨🇺Magaly CarvajalRetired
1986–20002————88.0
29
🇧🇷Maurício LimaRetired
1988–2006——1——88.0
30
🇷🇺Evgeniya ArtamonovaRetired
1990–2012—————88.0
31
🇺🇸Todd RogersRetired
1994–2016—————87.9
32
🇮🇹Monica De GennaroActive
2004–present1————87.8
33
🇨🇺Zoila BarrosRetired
1996–20121—1——87.8
34
🇺🇸Randy StoklosRetired
1979–1996—————87.8
35
🇷🇺Yuri ChesnokovRetired
1956–1966—————87.8
36
🇧🇷RodrigãoRetired
1998–2016——1——87.8
37
🇨🇳Lang PingRetired
1978–1986——2—387.7
38
🇮🇹Anna DanesiActive
2014–present—————87.7
39
🇺🇸April RossRetired
2006–2022—————87.6
40
🇱🇻Ivans BugajenkovsRetired
1960–1970—————87.6
41
🇮🇹Paolo NicolaiActive
2008–present—————87.4
42
🇺🇸John HydenRetired
1998–2021—————87.3
43
🇧🇷Jaqueline CarvalhoRetired
2001–20212————87.0
44
🇵🇱Mariusz WlazłyRetired
2002–2023—————87.0
45
🇺🇸Mike DoddRetired
1980–1997—————87.0
46
🇯🇵Katsutoshi NekodaRetired
1964–1977—————86.8
47
🇨🇺Yumilka RuizRetired
1994–2008——2——86.8
48
🇮🇹Eleonora Lo BiancoRetired
1996–2017—————86.8
49
🇩🇪Laura LudwigActive
2003–present1————86.7
50
🇵🇱Ryszard BosekRetired
1972–1982—————86.7
1–50 of 252 athletes
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Compare top two: Kiraly vs Bell

Top 10 Volleyball players of all time

The ten highest verified GOAT Scores across every era.

  1. 1🇺🇸Karch Kiraly95.4
  2. 2🇨🇺Regla Bell91.4
  3. 3🇨🇺Marlenis Costa90.7
  4. 4🇷🇺Lyudmila Buldakova89.6
  5. 5🇧🇷Ricardo Santos89.5
  6. 6🇧🇷Fabiana Oliveira89.4
  7. 7🇧🇷Giba89.3
  8. 8🇨🇺Mireya Luis89.3
  9. 9🇧🇷Fábio Luiz Magalhães89.2
  10. 10🇺🇸Sinjin Smith89.1

By position

Outside hitter

  1. 1🇺🇸Karch Kiraly95.4
  2. 2🇨🇺Regla Bell91.4
  3. 3🇨🇺Marlenis Costa90.7
  4. 4🇷🇺Lyudmila Buldakova89.6
  5. 5🇧🇷Giba89.3

Beach volleyball

  1. 1🇧🇷Ricardo Santos89.5
  2. 2🇧🇷Fábio Luiz Magalhães89.2
  3. 3🇺🇸Sinjin Smith89.1
  4. 4🇧🇷Márcio Araújo88.7
  5. 5🇳🇴Christian Sørum88.4

Libero

  1. 1🇧🇷Fabiana Oliveira89.4
  2. 2🇮🇹Monica De Gennaro87.8
  3. 3🇮🇹Andrea Bari85.2
  4. 4🇧🇷Camila Brait84.8
  5. 5🇧🇷Sérgio Santos79.9

Opposite

  1. 1🇮🇹Luca Cantagalli88.7
  2. 2🇨🇺Zoila Barros87.8
  3. 3🇵🇱Mariusz Wlazły87.0
  4. 4🇮🇹Ekaterina Antropova86.0
  5. 5🇺🇸Tayyiba Haneef-Park85.7

Setter

  1. 1🇦🇷Luciano De Cecco88.4
  2. 2🇧🇷Fofão88.4
  3. 3🇷🇸Maja Ognjenović88.4
  4. 4🇧🇷William Arjona88.2
  5. 5🇧🇷Maurício Lima88.0

Middle blocker

  1. 1🇧🇷Thaísa Menezes88.4
  2. 2🇧🇷Fabiana Claudino88.3
  3. 3🇮🇹Simona Gioli88.2
  4. 4🇨🇺Magaly Carvajal88.0
  5. 5🇧🇷Rodrigão87.8

Opposite hitter

  1. 1🇷🇸Tijana Bošković86.2
  2. 2🇷🇺Ekaterina Gamova85.4
  3. 3🇫🇷Stéphen Boyer84.4

By country

Cuba

  1. 1🇨🇺Regla Bell91.4
  2. 2🇨🇺Marlenis Costa90.7
  3. 3🇨🇺Mireya Luis89.3
  4. 4🇨🇺Magaly Carvajal88.0
  5. 5🇨🇺Zoila Barros87.8

Russia

  1. 1🇷🇺Lyudmila Buldakova89.6
  2. 2🇷🇺Viacheslav Krasilnikov88.4
  3. 3🇷🇺Yelena Chebukina88.3
  4. 4🇷🇺Evgeniya Artamonova88.0
  5. 5🇷🇺Yuri Chesnokov87.8

Brazil

  1. 1🇧🇷Ricardo Santos89.5
  2. 2🇧🇷Fabiana Oliveira89.4
  3. 3🇧🇷Giba89.3
  4. 4🇧🇷Fábio Luiz Magalhães89.2
  5. 5🇧🇷Dante Amaral88.9

United States

  1. 1🇺🇸Sinjin Smith89.1
  2. 2🇺🇸Todd Rogers87.9
  3. 3🇺🇸Randy Stoklos87.8
  4. 4🇺🇸April Ross87.6
  5. 5🇺🇸John Hyden87.3

Italy

  1. 1🇮🇹Luca Cantagalli88.7
  2. 2🇮🇹Taismary Agüero88.7
  3. 3🇮🇹Marco Bracci88.3
  4. 4🇮🇹Simona Gioli88.2
  5. 5🇮🇹Monica De Gennaro87.8

China

  1. 1🇨🇳Zhu Ting88.6
  2. 2🇨🇳Lang Ping87.7
  3. 3🇨🇳Cui Yongmei83.6
  4. 4🇨🇳Hui Ruoqi81.6
  5. 5🇨🇳Yang Fangxu77.3

Argentina

  1. 1🇦🇷Luciano De Cecco88.4
  2. 2🇦🇷Hugo Conte86.5
  3. 3🇦🇷Daniel Castellani82.0
  4. 4🇦🇷Facundo Conte79.0
  5. 5🇦🇷Santiago Danani74.9

Serbia

  1. 1🇷🇸Maja Ognjenović88.4
  2. 2🇷🇸Tijana Bošković86.2
  3. 3🇷🇸Vladimir Grbić86.0
  4. 4🇷🇸Maja Aleksić85.4
  5. 5🇷🇸Vladimir Batez85.3

By era

1950s

  1. 1🇷🇺Yuri Chesnokov87.8
  2. 2🇷🇺Nelli Abramova82.6
  3. 3🇵🇱Krystyna Czajkowska74.7

1960s

  1. 1🇷🇺Lyudmila Buldakova89.6
  2. 2🇱🇻Ivans Bugajenkovs87.6
  3. 3🇯🇵Katsutoshi Nekoda86.8
  4. 4🇷🇺Inna Ryskal85.3
  5. 5🇷🇺Larisa Bergen84.9

1970s

  1. 1🇺🇸Sinjin Smith89.1
  2. 2🇺🇸Randy Stoklos87.8
  3. 3🇨🇳Lang Ping87.7
  4. 4🇵🇱Ryszard Bosek86.7
  5. 5🇦🇷Hugo Conte86.5

1980s

  1. 1🇺🇸Karch Kiraly95.4
  2. 2🇨🇺Marlenis Costa90.7
  3. 3🇨🇺Mireya Luis89.3
  4. 4🇮🇹Luca Cantagalli88.7
  5. 5🇷🇺Yelena Chebukina88.3

1990s

  1. 1🇨🇺Regla Bell91.4
  2. 2🇧🇷Ricardo Santos89.5
  3. 3🇧🇷Giba89.3
  4. 4🇧🇷Dante Amaral88.9
  5. 5🇧🇷Márcio Araújo88.7

2000s

  1. 1🇧🇷Fabiana Oliveira89.4
  2. 2🇧🇷Fábio Luiz Magalhães89.2
  3. 3🇦🇷Luciano De Cecco88.4
  4. 4🇷🇸Maja Ognjenović88.4
  5. 5🇧🇷Thaísa Menezes88.4

2010s

  1. 1🇨🇳Zhu Ting88.6
  2. 2🇳🇴Christian Sørum88.4
  3. 3🇷🇺Viacheslav Krasilnikov88.4
  4. 4🇮🇹Anna Danesi87.7
  5. 5🇫🇷Barthélémy Chinenyeze86.5

By country · By position · By era

Greatest Volleyball Players from CubaGreatest Volleyball Players from RussiaGreatest Volleyball Players from BrazilGreatest Volleyball Players from United StatesGreatest Volleyball Players from ItalyGreatest Volleyball Players from SerbiaGreatest Volleyball Outside hitters of all timeGreatest Volleyball Beach volleyballs of all timeGreatest Volleyball Liberos of all timeGreatest Volleyball Opposites of all timeGreatest Volleyball Setters of all timeGreatest Volleyball Middle blockers of all timeGreatest Volleyball Players who debuted in the 1960sGreatest Volleyball Players who debuted in the 1970sGreatest Volleyball Players who debuted in the 1980sGreatest Volleyball Players who debuted in the 1990sGreatest Volleyball Players who debuted in the 2000sGreatest Volleyball Players who debuted in the 2010s

Volleyball GOAT debates

The closest calls in the ranking, with a full side-by-side breakdown.

Kiraly vs Bell· Kiraly ranks higher at 95.4 versus Bell at 91.4, a margin of 4.0 points.Bell vs Costa· Bell ranks higher at 91.4 versus Costa at 90.7, a margin of 0.7 points.Costa vs Buldakova· Costa ranks higher at 90.7 versus Buldakova at 89.6, a margin of 1.1 points.Buldakova vs Santos· Buldakova ranks higher at 89.6 versus Santos at 89.5, a margin of 0.1 points.Santos vs Fabi· Santos ranks higher at 89.5 versus Fabi at 89.4, a margin of 0.1 points.

How the Volleyball ranking works

Every athlete is scored on five verified components — Dominance (25%), Peak (20%), Longevity (20%), Honours (20%) and Statistics (15%) — normalised against the full Volleyball reference cohort rather than a shortlist. A record only receives a published score once it is editorially verified and complete: a season-by-season series, at least three career metrics, documented honours and independent sources. Read the full methodology.

Volleyball GOAT — frequently asked

Who is the greatest Volleyball Athlete of all time?
Karch Kiraly leads Volleyball with a verified GOAT Score of 95.4/100.
How is the Volleyball GOAT ranking calculated?
Five verified categories are weighted against 303 reference records. Only eligible profiles receive a score.
How many Volleyball players are ranked?
252 eligible Volleyball athletes currently have a published GOAT Score, from 303 reference records.