Turkish volleyball received significant presence in the traditional "Athlete of the Year" survey of Milliyet newspaper, which has been held since 1954 and in 2026 will take place for the 72nd time. In this year's edition, representatives of volleyball are nominated in three different categories.

The Turkish Women's National Team is among the candidates for "Team of the Year", team star Melissa Vargas is nominated in the "Female Athlete of the Year" category, and the team's coach Daniele Santarelli is among the contenders for "Coach of the Year". Voting in the survey will continue until March 31, 2026, at 23:59, via the publication's online platform.
The nominations come after a strong year for the Turkish women's national team, which won silver medals at the 2025 World Championship, the country's first distinction from this tournament, and was again among the leading teams in the Volleyball Nations League.

Volleyball also had a similar strong presence in the Bulgarian "Athlete of the Year" survey. Our men's national team was honored as "Team of the Year", after winning silver medals at the World Championship in Manila.

Two representatives of the national team also made it among the country's best athletes. Aleksandar Nikolov took second place in the final ranking, and his brother Simeon Nikolov ranked sixth in the prestigious top ten.

Recognition was also given to the national team's coach Gianlorenzo Blengini, who was chosen as "Coach of the Year".

Thus, volleyball has established itself as one of the sports with the most significant presence in prestigious annual surveys in both Bulgaria and Turkey – proof of the game's influence and popularity in the region.andvoleybolaktuel.com

photo:milliyet.com.trandvoleybolaktuel.com