Zhu Ting
Paola Egonu
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Zhu Ting leads 3 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Zhu Ting at #5 and Paola Egonu at #11.
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The case for Zhu Ting
The defining women's player of the late 2010s and one of the most complete attackers the game has seen. Zhu Ting exploded onto the world stage by carrying China to Olympic gold in Rio 2016, winning the tournament MVP, and added World Cup titles and MVP awards in 2015 and 2019. Dominating abroad with Turkey's Vakifbank, she won consecutive CEV Champions League titles and MVPs in 2017 and 2018, plus the Club World Championship, proving herself against the strongest club fields on earth. At over 1.95 metres with a long, whip-fast arm, she combines terminal power with the passing and defence of an outside hitter, giving China a genuine six-rotation superstar. Injuries and China's dip cost her a second Olympic title, but at her peak from roughly 2015 to 2019 she was, by wide agreement, the best player in the world - a modern benchmark for the outside hitter position. As of the 2024-25 season she continued at the elite level.
The case for Paola Egonu
The most explosive scorer in the contemporary women's game and the face of Italian volleyball. A left-handed opposite of exceptional power, Egonu combines a towering standing reach with one of the heaviest arms in the sport, routinely posting 30-plus points in a single match and setting scoring records in Italy's Serie A. She drove Italy to a silver medal at the 2018 World Championship and bronze in 2022, then to the crowning achievement of Olympic gold at Paris 2024 - Italy's first Olympic women's volleyball title - as one of the tournament's decisive attackers. She has also won multiple Nations League titles and European medals, and starred for elite clubs in Italy and Turkey. Still in her mid-twenties, Egonu has already reshaped expectations of what an opposite can score, and her blend of raw power and improving all-round play makes her the benchmark for the current generation. As of the 2024-25 season she remained at the pinnacle.