Lorenzo Bernardi
Yekaterina Gamova
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Lorenzo Bernardi leads 2 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Lorenzo Bernardi at #3 and Yekaterina Gamova at #9.
The case for Lorenzo Bernardi
The outstanding outside hitter of volleyball's professional dawn and the leader of Italy's golden generation. Bernardi drove the most dominant men's team of the 1990s to three straight World Championships - 1990, 1994 and 1998 - under coach Julio Velasco, alongside a haul of World League titles and European crowns. A complete wing spiker who could side-out under pressure, serve aggressively and defend, he was the emblem of an Italian side that beat everyone except, painfully, at the Olympics, where the team settled for silver in 1996. He spent his club career in Italy's Serie A, then the richest and strongest league in the world, sustaining elite form for the better part of two decades. Widely honoured among the greatest European players ever, Bernardi's near-total dominance in every arena but the Olympic final places him firmly among the sport's all-time elite, and he later coached at the highest club level.
The case for Yekaterina Gamova
A 2.02-metre opposite whose combination of height and power made her one of the most physically dominant attackers the women's game has seen. Gamova led Russia to World Championship titles in 2006 and 2010, taking MVP honours in 2010, and won Olympic silver in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. Hitting down over the block from a standing reach few could match, she was for a decade the go-to scorer whenever Russia needed a point, thriving in the era just after rally scoring rewarded terminal firepower. She also collected multiple European and club titles across a long career in Russia and abroad. Gamova never captured the Olympic gold her talent deserved, but her twin World Championships, imposing presence and sustained production place her firmly among the greatest opposites of all time and a template for the tall, powerful right-side attackers who followed, up to and including Paola Egonu.