Approximately 5 million of the 17 million people in the Netherlands are registered to one of the 35,000 sports clubs in the country. About two thirds of the population older than 15 years participates in sports weekly.
The Netherlands women's national volleyball team is the national volleyball team of the Netherlands. It is governed by the Nederlandse Volleybalbond (NeVoBo). Following the 1995 European Championship they hosted in Arnhem and finishing fifth at the 1996 Olympics, the Dutch have had moments of success amidst instability, such as the title of the 2007 FIVB World Grand Prix, and a return to the Olympic Games in 2016, where the Netherlands got to fourth place.
Kim Staelens is a Dutch professional volleyball player last under contract at Romanian team Ştiinţa Bacău. Her older sister Chaïne is also a Dutch international volleyball player. Their father Jean-Pierre played many international matches for the Belgium national volleyball team. Staelens speaks Dutch, English, French and German. Kim Staelens plays as a setter and is able to spike at 305 cm, while she is capable of blocking at 301 cm.
Małgorzata Glinka-Mogentale is a Polish retired volleyball player. She was a member of Poland women's national volleyball team in 1997–2014, a participant of the Olympic Games Beijing 2008, double European Champion, and a gold medalist of Polish, French, Spanish and Turkish national championships.
Ronald ("Ron") Ferdinand Zwerver is a retired volleyball player from the Netherlands who represented his native country in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. He was one of the dominant forces in Dutch volleyball in the 1990s. He was selected as the Best Attacker at both the 1990 and 1994 FIVB World Championships.
Sergey Yuryevich Tetyukhin is a former Russian volleyball player. He was born in Fergana, Uzbekistan. He is 1.97 m tall, and plays as passer-attacker. Together with Samuele Papi and Sérgio Santos he is one of only three male volleyball players who have accumulated four Olympic medals in the course of their long sporting careers. Tetyukhin, however, has the distinction of being the only volleyball player in the world with four Olympic medals who has all three types of those awards, including gold at London Olympics. He competed at six Summer Olympics, being the flag-bearer in 2016.
Lyubov Vladimirovna Sokolova is a retired Russian volleyball player, Honored Master of Sports of Russia. She was a member of the national team that won gold medals at the 2006 and 2010 World Championships in Japan, and silver medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Additionally, she’s the only volleyball player who has won 2 World titles in the same year: 2010 World Championship with Russia and 2010 World Club Championship with Fenerbahçe
The 2003 Women's European Volleyball Championship was the 23rd edition of the event, organised by Europe's governing volleyball body, the Confédération Européenne de Volleyball. It was hosted in Ankara, Turkey from 20 to 28 September 2003.
The 1995 Women's European Volleyball Championship was the 19th edition of the event, organised by Europe's governing volleyball body, the Confédération Européenne de Volleyball. It was hosted in Arnhem and Groningen, Netherlands from 23 September to 1 October 1995. The two finalists qualified for the 1995 FIVB Women's World Cup.
Ingrid Louise Visser was a Dutch female volleyball player, a member of the Netherlands women's national volleyball team in 1994–2011, a participant of the 1996 Olympic Games and 1995 European Champion.
Mirka Francia Vasconcelos, more commonly known as Mirka Francia, is a Cuban-Italian retired volleyball player who won two Olympic gold medals with the Cuban women's national volleyball team. At 1.84 m (6 ft) tall, she played as a middle blocker before transitioning to an outside hitter later in her career.
Taismary Agüero Leiva is a Cuban-born Italian volleyball player. She is the only player to have represented two women's national volleyball teams that won major titles.
Zoila Barros Fernández, more commonly known as Zoila Barros, is a Cuban former volleyball player and three-time Olympian. As a middle blocker, she played for the Cuban women's national volleyball team, helping the team win the gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics and the bronze medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics. She also participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Manon Nummerdor-Flier is a retired volleyball player from the Netherlands who played as an opposite.
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.
Virna Cristine Dantes Dias is a retired volleyball player from Brazil. She represented her native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. There, she claimed the bronze medal with the Women's National Team.
The Women's European Volleyball Championship is the official competition for senior women's national volleyball teams of Europe, organized by the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV). The initial gap between championships was variable, but since 1975 they have been awarded every two years. The current champion is Turkey, which won its first title at the 2023 tournament.
Anne Elise Buijs is a Dutch volleyball player. She has been a member of the Women's National Team since 2008. She is the daughter of Internacional coach and ex-volleyball player Teun Buijs, who trained her for several clubs in her career. Her mother and older brother were also volleyball players. She currently plays for Italian club Igor Gorgonzola Novara. In 2 March 2023, Buijs married Ana Carolina Da Silva, her long-time partner who plays as a middle blocker of Brazil Women's Volleyball National Team.
Maret Balkestein-Grothues, néeMaret Grothues is a Dutch volleyball player who plays as a wing spiker. She is a member of the Netherlands women's national volleyball team, and is the current team captain. On 6 May 2021 she signed for the Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos.
Fernanda Porto Venturini is a former volleyball player from Brazil and a four-time Olympian. She competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where she won the bronze medal with the Brazilian women's national volleyball team. She is regarded as one of the best setters of all time.
