American Michelle Bartsch-Hackley Named MVP of 2018 #VNL

At the conclusion of the 2018 Women’s Volleyball Nations League on Sunday, the FIVB handed out its MVP and 7-member dream team awards, which comes with $100,000 in prize money. The awards, technically given based on play in the Final 6, can only be given to teams that advanced from the preliminary rounds.

Taking the lion’s share of the prize money was American outside hitter Michelle Bartsch-Hackley, who was named the MVP ($30,000) and one of two outside hitters on the dream team ($10,000). This caps off a meteoric mid-career rise for the 28-year old from Collinsville, Illinois. She played her first major international competition at the Grand Prix in 2016, became a full-time National Teamer last year.

At the 2017 World Grand Prix, she was 3rd on the U.S. team in scoring and 12th overall in the preliminary rounds. In this year’s tournament, she ranked 10th overall and as the top American. With the Americans winning gold, the MVP award was well-earned: there was a clear distinction between the Americans when she played and when she didn’t play. Notably, in the teams’ preliminary matchup, where the Americans lost 3-2, she hardly played. In the group stages, the Americans went down 0-2. She started and went the distance in the last 3 sets, and the Americans won all 3 for a nailbiter 3-2 win.

Then, in the final, she was the Americans’ offensive go-to, with 42 swings, and finishing with 18 points when they beat the Turks 3-2 again. Kim Hill didn’t start the match, but played most of it and with 20 points led the Americans.

In spite of China sweeping Brazil 3-0 in the bronze medal match, Brazil had 2 players on the team to just 1 for China.

That 1 for China is Zhu Ting, the MVP of the 2016 Olympic Games, who led the Final 6 in both scoring (87 points, 6.2/set) and digs-per-set (2.43).

Ozbay, from Turkey, led the Final 6 in running sets, by far, with 409, and was 2nd in per-set with 22.72. A running set is one where hitters face 0 or 1 blockers on their attack.

Finish Order for 2018 Women’s Volleyball Nations League

1. USA (2 selections)
2. Turkey (2 selections)
3. China (1 selection)
4. Brazil (2 selections)

2018 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League Dream Team

• MVP – Michelle Bartsch-Hackley, USA ($30,000)
• Outside Hitter – Zhu Ting, China ($10,000)
• Outside Hitter – Michelle Bartsch-Hackley, USA ($10,000)
• Setter – Cansu Ozbay, Turkey ($10,000)
• Middle Blocker – Tori Dixon, USA ($10,000)
• Middle Blocker – Eda Erdem Dundar, Turkey ($10,000)
• Libero – Suelen Pinto, Brazil ($10,000)
• Opposite – Tandara Caixeta, Brazil ($10,000)

Players’ Stats for Final 6

Stat Leaders for Final 6

Best Scorers

1. Zhu Ting, China – 87 points
2. Michelle Bartsch-Hackley, USA – 78 points
3. Tandara Caixeta, Brazil – 71 points
4. Tijana Boskovic, Serbia – 58 points
5. Eda Erdem Dundar, Turkey – 57 points

Best Hitting Percentages

1. Gabriela Guimaraes, Brazil – 48.54%
2. Tandara Caixeta, Brazil – 46.43%
3. Zhu Ting, China – 45.56%
4. Lonneke Sloetjes, Netherlands – 43.75%
5. Tijana Boskovic, Serbia – 42.19%

Best Blockers

1. Adenizia Da Silva, Brazil – 13 total, 1.08/set
2. Ana Beatriz Correa, Brazil – 10 total, .83/set
3. Zehra Gunes, Turkey – 14 total, .78/set
4. Milena Rasic, Serbia – 6 total, .75/set
5. Tori Dixon, USA – 11 total, .65/set

Best Servers

1. Jordan Larson, USA – 8 aces, .47/set
2. Milena Rasic, Serbia – 3 aces, .38/set
3. Eda Erdem Dundar, Turkey – 6 aces, .33/set
4. (TIE) – Tandara Caixeta/Roberta Ratzke, Brazil – 4 aces, .33/set

Best Setters

1. Roberta Ratzke, Brazil – 288 running sets, 24/set
2. Cansu Ozbay, Turkey – 409 running sets, 22.72/set
3. Bojana Zivkovic, Serbia – 162 running sets, 20.25/set
4. Carli Lloyd, USA – 326 running sets, 19.18/set
5. Xia Ding, China – 262 running sets, 18.71/set

Best Diggers

1. Zhu Ting, China – 34 digs, 2.43/set
2. Suelen Pinto, Brazil – 28 digs, 2.33/set
3. Kelsey Robinson, USA – 39 digs, 2.29/set
4. Anne Buijs, Netherlands – 16 digs, 2.29/set
5. Simge Sebnem Akoz, Turkey – 34 digs, 1.89/set

Best Receivers – Eligible Players

1. Gabriela Guimaraes, Brazil – 38.81% Efficiency
2. Simge Sebnem Akoz, Turkey – 29.89% Efficiency
3. Kelsey Robinson, USA – 28.30% Efficiency
4. Meliha Ismailoglu, Turkey – 25.97% Efficiency
5. Xiaotong Liu, China – 25.81% Efficiency