The 22-year-old Liu Ya’nan is a blitz killer from the Chinese women’s volleyball team. Her amazing speed and smart choice of attack position made her one of the most productive spikers in the world.

Liu was born in Dalian, Liaoning province, and started to play volleyball at 12. She showed a great talent of the sport very quickly and was selected to the Liaoning Youth team one year later when she grew to 178 cm.

Joining the national side in 2001, Liu established herself into a starter at the Grand Prix series in Hong Kong, China and Harbin, China the same year. The two stops of competitions were unforgettable for her as she won prizes including the Most Popular Player, the Best Spiker and the Best Blocker.

Liu also helped China finish runners-up to Russia in the 2002 Grand Prix Finals and win the Busan Asian Games women’s volleyball tournament.

Now standing at a height of 186cm, Liu strongly supported Chinese ace spiker Yang Hao and played an important role in China’s blitz attack.

A frequenter to the top areas of the spikers’ standings at various competitions, Liu thought the team’s performance was more important than her own statistics.

“I am a person willing to contribute,” Liu said. “I preferred a better result of the Chinese team than excellent statistics for myself.”