VolleyBar110# : Friday October 16, 2026

On this day…
Amarcord and volleyball birthdays, beach volley, Germany, Tauron Liga debut and foreign players in Italy.

Welcome to the 110th Episode of VolleyBar, the last one before our usual weekend break.
Taking this opportunity to thank all our readers, both old and new, we would also like to remind everyone to beware of imitations. A well-known Italian website has repeatedly published word-for-word translations of our articles and regularly reproduces almost every one of our news stories in its own “daily column”, a format blatantly copied from our very own VolleyBar.

Either way, October 16 has some particularly good stories for our volleyball history column: the opening day of the 1962 men’s World Championship, a pivotal round in the 2018 women’s World Championship, and birthdays belonging to some of the biggest names in modern volleyball, including Melissa Vargas and Jordan Larson!

The fifth edition of the FIVB Men’s World Championship began on October 16, 1962, with the Soviet Union hosting a 21-team tournament across four cities. The hosts would go on to win their fourth world title. Opening-day results recorded in the final group included Yugoslavia’s 3–2 victory over Brazil, Romania’s 3–2 win against Hungary, Japan’s 3–1 defeat of Poland, the Soviet Union’s 3–0 win over China and Czechoslovakia’s 3–1 victory over Bulgaria.

In 1964, Olympic volleyball is underway in Tokyo. The sport was making its Olympic debut, with both men’s and women’s tournaments played as round-robin competitions. Japan would eventually win the women’s gold medal, while the Soviet Union claimed the men’s title. The Olympic archive confirms the tournaments ran through October 23.

October 16, 2013: Belogorie Belgorod complete a remarkable comeback to win the Russian Super Cup.
Thirteen years ago, in Belgorod, Belogorie Belgorod came back from two sets down against Zenit Kazan to claim the first Russian Super Cup in the club’s history. The visitors took a 2–0 lead, but Belogorie turned the final around to win 3–2: 21:25, 21:25, 25:23, 25:23, 15:13.
Georg Grozer led the way with 28 points, matching the tally of Zenit’s Maxim Mikhailov. Dmitriy Muserskiy added 16 points for the winners, while Sergey Tetyukhin contributed 13. The victory marked the beginning of a memorable season for Belogorie, who went on to add the Russian Cup, the CEV Champions League and the FIVB Club World Championship to their Super Cup triumph.

More recently, in 2018, Serbia end Italy’s unbeaten run at the women’s World Championship, winning 3–1 (25:21, 25:19, 23:25, 25:23) in Nagoya, handing the rivals their first defeat after ten consecutive wins. Tijana Bošković led Serbia with 29 points, while Paola Egonu scored 28 for Italy. The result put Serbia at the top of its third-round pool and helped shape the semifinal match-ups. China also came from behind to beat the Netherlands 3–1, with Zhu Ting scoring 19 points.

Melissa Vargas was born on October 16, 1999 and turns 27 today.
One of the most powerful attackers in contemporary women’s volleyball, she was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba, and later became a Turkish citizen, representing Türkiye internationally. Her rise included a spell at Fenerbahçe and major success with the Turkish national team, including the 2023 European Championship and Volleyball Nations League titles. Her extraordinary scoring ability has made her one of the defining opposites of her generation. 

Jordan Larson, born October 16, 1986, turns 40 today.
Known as “The Governor”, she is one of the most decorated American volleyball players of all time. The outside hitter won Olympic silver in London in 2012, bronze in Rio in 2016 and gold in Tokyo in 2021, when she captained the United States to its first-ever Olympic women’s volleyball title. Her honours also include the 2014 World Championship and multiple international club trophies.

Back to the present, the Alanya Futures event began with qualification matches on October 15, with main-draw play scheduled to continue on Friday, October 16, and finals on October 18. The tournament is hosted at the international beach sports centre in Alanya, Türkiye, in cooperation with the Turkish Volleyball Federation and the FIVB. It is a current event rather than a historical anniversary, but it belongs in the day’s volleyball news context. 

In Germany, 2026 Men’s Supercup tournament begins! The German men’s Supercup competition is scheduled to run from October 16 to 18, with eight teams taking part. The opening programme includes SWD Powervolleys Düren against SVG Lüneburg, FT 1844 Freiburg against VfB Friedrichshafen, Berlin Recycling Volleys against Energiequelle Netzhoppers KW, and Helios Grizzlys Giesen against Barock Volleys MTV Ludwigsburg.

With 13 members of Poland’s European Championship-winning squad back in action and international stars spread across 14 teams, the new season of Tauron Liga promises another compelling battle for one of Europe’s most competitive domestic titles!
Today GKS Katowice will welcome defending champions Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie while, in the evening PGE Projekt Warszawa will face Energa Indykpol AZS Olsztyn.

In Italy, the SuperLega season about to begin, Jan Zimmermann’s move to Poland leaves Vero Volley Monza facing an unexpected problem in a key position. The German setter is joining ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle, while injured Andrew Rowan remains sidelined.

And now a fun fact to close: with 10 players, France is the most represented foreign country in Italian Superlega.
Here is the list of French players competing in Italy this season:
• Noa Duflos-Rossi (Cisterna Volley)
• Henri Léon (Piacenza)
• Daniel Iyegbekedo (Piacenza)
• Théo Faure (Trentino)
• Nathan Feral (Cuneo)
• Alexandre Strehlau (Cuneo)
• Thibaut Loubeyre (Cuneo)
• Kellian Motta Paes (Verona)
• Mathis Henno (Perugia)
• Amir Tizi-Oualou (Modena)

The top three foreign countries represented:
• France: 10 players
• Brazil and the USA: 6 players each
• Bulgaria and Belgium: 5 players each

Also Africa will have two representatives in one of the world’s strongest volleyball league during the 2026-27 season.
According to the official list of 68 foreign players released by Lega Volley, they are Noumory Keita, the Malian outside hitter who will play his fourth consecutive SuperLega season with Verona Volley, and Bara Fall. After three seasons in Serie A2, the Senegalese middle blocker will finally make his debut in Italy’s top division, wearing the colours of Vero Volley Monza.

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