WINNING the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship felt sweeter the second time around.
Italy’s star outside hitter Alessandro Michieletto said this after he was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship on Sunday at the Mall of Asia.
“Incredible. I’m grateful. I’m happy with the win,” said the 24-year-old Michieletto, who was among the nine players of the Azzuris, who experienced winning their first world championship back in 2022.
The 2025 edition was one of the best performances of Michieletto, who was a two-time Olympian with the Italy men’s national volleyball team at the Tokyo and Paris 2024 Olympics.
In his Olympic debut in Tokyo, he led Italy in scoring with 24 points in their five-set comeback win against Canada.
He was also a key player for the Italian team at the Paris Olympiad, where Italy missed a medal, finishing fourth after losing the bronze-medal match to the USA.
During the world finals, Michieletto said facing Bulgaria was quite challenging.
“I’m happy with the win because our game in the finals with Bulgaria was very difficult. Bulgaria played well,” added Michieletto.
When the game ended, Michieletto also led a roster of seven players named to the symbolic World Championship Dream Team.
With him in the team were setter Simone Giannelli (Italy), opposite Yuri Romano (Italy), outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov (Bulgaria), middle blockers Alek Grozdanov (Bulgaria) and Jakub Kochanowski (Poland) and libero Fabio Balaso (Italy).
So far, Michieletto contributed a total of 93 points over the seven matches his team played in the Philippines, on their way to the world title.
He was Italy’s most prolific scorer of the tournament and the sixth best scorer among all players of the World Championship.
