Lausanne, Switzerland, July 8, 2020: Chinese setter Ding Xia has been named Player of the Week by the International Volleyball Federation.
Ding has been setting up China’s attacks for over half a decade, feeding the big hitters out wide and down the middle with her crafty court play that keeps opponents guessing where the next spike is coming from.
The 30-year-old setter, whose career highlight has certainly been the gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, first became involved with volleyball in the youth categories of Hebei Volleyball. She then moved to Liaoning in 2009 and has stayed there ever since, competing in the Chinese Volleyball League.
Ding was first called to the national team in 2014, ahead of the Asian Cup in Shenzhen and Incheon Asian Games of that year. She helped China pick up gold in the Asian Cup and silver in the Asian Games behind the hosts Korea - her first medals at international level.
She was selected for the Dream Team of that Asian Cup as best setter of the competition.
Following the triumph at Rio 2016, Ding continued to mastermind China's national team, including successes in the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix, FIVB Volleyball World Grand Champions Cup, FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship and FIVB Volleyball Nations League, as well as back-to-back gold medals in the FIVB Volleyball World Cup in 2015 and 2019.
Adding to her personal individual awards, Ding was named on the Dream Team of last year's World Cup.
The FIVB announced her selection as Player of the Week on July 6.