From one MVP to another, Simone Giannelli paid tribute to the sport’s newest star, Alessandro Michieletto, after the two spearheaded Italy’s successful title defense at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship.
Giannelli, who captured his second consecutive Best Setter award, was every inch the proud captain as he celebrated the rise of his 23-year-old teammate. Michieletto shone brightest on the world stage, taking home both the Best Outside Spiker and 2025 MVP honors after powering Italy with 11 points in their title-clinching 25–21, 25–17, 17–25, 25–10 victory over Bulgaria on Sunday. The final drew a tournament-high crowd of 16,429 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
“He deserves it. He’s amazing—I think he’s the best player in the world. It’s incredible, he can do everything. He wasn’t spiking well in the first set, but then he started to push, started putting balls down, and I’m very happy to play with him,” said Giannelli.
For his part, the newly crowned World Championship MVP admitted that Italy didn’t quite replicate the dominant level they displayed in their semifinal sweep of World No. 1 Poland. Still, the result mattered most.
“Today we all played well—Yuri, Mattia, everyone. I’m very happy because winning the World Championship twice in a row against incredible teams is very difficult. I think we played better against Poland than today, but it’s okay, no problem,” Michieletto said.
“The important thing is to get the gold. I’m very happy because this summer we earned two medals—in the VNL and the World Championship. I can say we are the best team in the world.”
Italy’s triumph was a collective effort. Yuri Romano was named Best Opposite Spiker after finishing as one of the tournament’s top eight scorers with 88 points, while Fabio Balaso earned his second straight Best Libero award.
Bulgaria’s Aleksandar Nikolov shared Best Outside Spiker honors with Michieletto after leading his team to a silver medal finish and topping all scorers with 173 points. Meanwhile, Poland’s Jakub Kochanowski and Bulgaria’s Aleks Grozdanov rounded out the Dream Team as the Best Middle Blockers.
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