History
Sampo's first season in the Finnish Champion league was season 1998/1999. The next year Sampo became the first runner-up, followed by two bronze medals in 2002 and 2003. In 2004, Sampo won its first national championship, clinching the same title again the following year. Preceded by the miserable 2006 season, the club won the Finland Cup championship and secured a Finland League silver medal in 2007. In the same season Sampo made its debut in the European league finishing eighth. Following all but the same pattern of the previous year, Season 2008 saw Sampo finish second again in the Finland League.
After two consecutive years of having to settle for a silver medal, the club finally achieved its third national championship in 2009. At the end of the season, the club's huge financial troubles were disclosed and it was close to complete withdrawal from the national league. Yet, the club eventually managed to enter the 2010 season with a hugely scaled-down budget. At the end of the season, the club achieved a silver medal.
Among all sportin Turkey, the most popular one is football. Turkey's top teams include Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş. In 2000, Galatasaray won the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup. Two years later, the Turkish national team finished third in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals in Japan and South Korea, while in 2008, the national team reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Euro 2008 competition. The Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul hosted the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final, while the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul hosted the 2009 UEFA Cup Final.
Katarzyna Ewa Skowrońska-Dolata is a former Polish volleyball player, a member of Poland women's national volleyball team and Italian club Foppapedretti Bergamo, double European Champion, gold medalist of Italian, Turkish, Chinese and Azeri national championships.
The Brazil men's national volleyball team is governed by the Confederação Brasileira de Voleibol(Brazilian Volleyball Confederation) and takes part in international volleyball competitions. Brazil has three gold medals at the Olympic Games, won three times the World Championship and nine times the World League. Brazil is the #3 team on the FIVB World Rankings. The team is often referred to as volleyball's "Dream Team" due to its success under coach Bernardo Rezende.
Sport in Serbia plays an important role, and the country has a strong sporting history. The most popular sports in Serbia are football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, water polo and handball.
Neslihan Demir is a retired Turkish volleyball star. She is one of the most successful athletes of Turkey and has been among FIVB Heroes. She represented her country as the flag bearer at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the official advertisement face of Turkey for the 2020 Summer Olympics candidateship along with basketballer Hedo Türkoğlu. She was a left-handed opposite hitter and won numerous individual awards in the international tournaments. She studied at Gazi University.
Naz Aydemir Akyol is a Turkish volleyball player, widely regarded as one of the best setters in international volleyball. She plays as setter for THY Spor Kulübü and the Turkey women's national volleyball team. She has won a total of nine Turkish League championships, four with Vakıfbank, three with Eczacıbaşı and two with Fenerbahçe. She has four CEV Champions League championships, winning three with Vakıfbank and one with Fenerbahçe. She also has three FIVB Club World Championship, winning two with Vakıfbank and one with Fenerbahçe. She participated at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2020 Summer Olympics.
Annerys Victoria Vargas Valdez is a retired female volleyball player from the Dominican Republic, who won four consecutive gold medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games.
Maja Ognjenović is a Serbian volleyball player and the captain of the Serbia women's national volleyball team. Ognjenović won gold with the national team at the 2018 World Championship, and the 2011/2019 edition of the European Championship, silver at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, and bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Urpo Sivula is a Finnish professional volleyball player. During the 2008 season he played in the Finland Volleyball league team Pielaveden Sampo. Sivula plays wing-spiker.
Greece has risen to prominence in a number of sporting areas in recent decades. Football in particular has seen a rapid transformation, with the Greece national football team winning the UEFA Euro 2004. Many Greek athletes have also achieved significant success and have won world and olympic titles in numerous sports during the years, such as basketball, wrestling, water polo, athletics, weightlifting, with many of them becoming international stars inside their sports. The successful organisation of the Athens 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games led also to the further development of many sports and has led to the creation of many world class sport venues all over Greece and especially in Athens. Greek athletes have won a total 161 medals for Greece in 17 different Olympic sports at the Summer Olympic Games, including the Intercalated Games, an achievement which makes Greece one of the top nations globally, in the world's rankings of medals per capital
Olli-Pekka "Lelu" Ojansivu is a retired Finnish professional volleyball player who was a member of the Finland men's national volleyball team.
Olli Kunnari is a Finnish volleyball player. He is currently one of the key players in the Finnish national volleyball team. During the early years of his career, he played in the Finnish Champion league. In year 2004, he left Finland to play in the French Pro-A Volleyball league where he played until the season of 2009. Olli played the 2009 season in the Polish league. His current team Olympiacos SC, the volleyball team of the Greek sports club Olympiacos.
Milagros Cabral De La Cruz is a retired female volleyball player from the Dominican Republic who won the 1998 silver and three consecutive gold medals in 2002, 2006 and 2010 at the Central American and Caribbean Games.
Mikko Esko is a Finnish volleyball player, a member of Finland men's national volleyball team and Finnish club Vammalan Lentopallo.
Mikko Oivanen is a Finnish volleyball player, a member of Finland men's national volleyball team.
Matti Tapio Oivanen is a Finnish volleyball player, a member of Finland men's national volleyball team and Finnish club Hurrikaani Loimaa. His twin brother is Mikko Oivanen also volleyball player.
Antti Siltala is a Finnish professional volleyball player who has played in Greek, Turkish and Polish leagues. He also plays for the Finland men's national team.
Janne Heikkinen is a Finnish former volleyball player, a member of Finnish national team in 1993–2009.
Clayton Iona "Clay" Stanley is an American volleyball player, a member of United States men's national volleyball team, a participant of the Olympic Games, Olympic Champion 2008, NORCECA Champion 2005, multimedalist of the World League.
Miguel Ángel de Amo Fernández-Echevarría is a Spanish player of volleyball and beach volleyball.
Timo Perälä 
Ruslan Zhbankov