By Ryan Walker. Heights and results checked against each player’s records, November 2026.
Every season a short player asks me whether she should give up hitting and just play libero. My answer is always the same: pick the role where your size stops mattering, then get better at it than anyone else.
Short volleyball players win at the highest level, mostly as liberos, setters and beach defenders. Yoshie Takeshita (5’3″) set Japan to Olympic bronze in 2012. Fabi (5’5″) won two Olympic golds as Brazil’s libero. Justine Wong-Orantes (5’6″) was Best Libero when the US won gold in Tokyo. Holly McPeak (5’7″) won Olympic bronze on the beach. On the men’s side, Masahiro Sekita (5’9″) sets for one of the fastest offenses in the world. These are the roles where reading the game beats reach. Here’s what each of the six positions asks for.
The eight players at a glance
| Player | Height | Position | Country | Best result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yoshie Takeshita | 5’3″ (1.59 m) | Setter | Japan | Olympic bronze 2012; MVP and Best Setter, 2006 World Championship |
| Yuko Sano | 5’3″ (1.59 m) | Libero | Japan | Olympic bronze 2012 |
| Fabi (Fabiana Alvim) | 5’5″ (1.66 m) | Libero | Brazil | Olympic gold 2008 and 2012 |
| Justine Wong-Orantes | 5’6″ (1.68 m) | Libero | USA | Olympic gold 2020 (Best Libero), silver 2024 |
| Holly McPeak | 5’7″ (1.70 m) | Beach | USA | Olympic bronze 2004 |
| Hélia “Fofão” Souza | 5’8″ (1.73 m) | Setter | Brazil | Olympic gold 2008 |
| Masahiro Sekita | 5’9″ (1.75 m) | Setter | Japan | VNL silver 2024 |
| Erik Shoji | 6’0″ (1.84 m) | Libero | USA | Olympic bronze 2016 and 2024 |
Short depends on the level. Most women on Olympic teams are around six feet and most men are well over 6’5″, so a 5’8″ setter or a 6’0″ libero is giving up a lot of height. For what’s normal at your level, see average heights by position and level.
The setter who changed how I saw height
I’m tall, and it helped me as an outside hitter. But the first time height stopped impressing me was at the Minnesota High School Invitational, one of my first big tournaments. The other team looked a head taller than us in warm-ups. Then their setter walked on, maybe 5’7″, and ran us ragged. Every pass went where he wanted it. Every set beat our block by a step.
That match taught me something I still tell the short players I coach: height gets you noticed, but reading the game gets you on the floor. Every player below proves it.
Women
Yoshie Takeshita: 5’3″ setter, Japan
Takeshita played three Olympics and set Japan to bronze in London in 2012, after bronze at the 2010 World Championship. At the 2006 World Championship she was named both Most Valuable Player and Best Setter, and she collected Best Setter awards at the World Grand Prix, the Asian Championship and the 2011 World Cup.
A 5’3″ setter at that level should be blocked out of every rally. She wasn’t, because her sets were so fast and so accurate that the hitters were in the air before the block was set. If you’re short and you have good hands, setting is where your size matters least.
Yuko Sano: 5’3″ libero, Japan
Sano anchored Japan’s back row in the same era: bronze at the 2010 World Championship and the 2012 London Olympics. At the 2014 World Grand Prix she was named Best Libero and Most Valuable Player, a rare double for a defender.
What to copy: watch how early her feet stop moving. A libero doesn’t need reach, she needs a platform that’s set before the ball crosses the net. More on what the libero does and the rules that come with it.
Fabi (Fabiana Alvim): 5’5″ libero, Brazil
Fabi won Olympic gold with Brazil in 2008 and again in 2012, and was named Best Libero at the Beijing Olympics. Brazil had hitters well over six feet in those years, and Fabi was the reason they got clean swings. When your libero turns tough serves into perfect passes, your attackers look taller than they are.
Justine Wong-Orantes: 5’6″ libero, USA
Wong-Orantes was the libero when the US women won their first Olympic gold in Tokyo, and she was named Best Libero of the tournament. She added Best Libero at the 2021 Nations League and Olympic silver in Paris in 2024.
She’s the clearest modern example for American kids: a 5’6″ player who became the most important passer on the best team in the world.
Holly McPeak: 5’7″ beach player, USA
McPeak played three Olympics on the beach and won bronze in Athens in 2004 with Elaine Youngs, after a world championship silver in 1997. She was voted the best defensive player on the beach tour seven times.
Beach is the cleanest proof that size can be split between partners. The taller player takes the net and the shorter player wins the game with reads, digs and shot selection. If you’re short and you play sand, the defender role is built for you.
Hélia “Fofão” Souza: 5’8″ setter, Brazil
Fofão played five straight Olympics, from Barcelona 1992 to Beijing 2008. She won bronze in 1996 and 2000 and gold in 2008, setting Brazil to its first Olympic title in women’s volleyball. At 5’8″ she was one of the shorter players on every team she faced.
Five Olympic cycles is the number that matters to me. Setters last because the job runs on decisions, not jumps.
Men
Masahiro Sekita: 5’9″ setter, Japan
Sekita set for Japan at the Tokyo Olympics and was on the teams that won VNL bronze in 2023, the 2023 Asian Championship and Japan’s first VNL silver in 2024. Most setters at that level are several inches taller, so he gives up real height at the net.
He makes up for it with tempo. Japan’s attack runs fast, and a quick set leaves blockers no time to close. A short setter who pushes the pace takes away the one thing a tall block has, which is time.
Erik Shoji: 6’0″ libero, USA
Six feet sounds tall until you stand next to a men’s national team. Shoji won Olympic bronze with the US in 2016 and 2024 and World Cup gold in 2015, where he was named Best Libero. He was Best Libero again at the 2019 Nations League.
On a team where most players are 6’6″ and up, he built an Olympic career by owning serve receive.
What these players have in common
All eight play libero, setter or beach defense. Those roles reward reading the hitter, footwork and first-contact control, and none of them needs a big reach. If you’re shorter than your teammates, pick the role where your strengths count, then train the skill that role pays for: passing for liberos, decisions and hands for setters, reads and range for beach defenders.
And if you still want to hit, you can. Work on your approach and build your vertical for a higher contact point, then learn to hit around the block instead of over it.
Short volleyball players FAQs
Yes. Short players win at the highest level, mostly as liberos, setters and beach defenders, where reading the game and ball control matter more than reach.
Libero or defensive specialist for strong passers, setter for players with good hands and quick decisions, and defender in beach volleyball.
It varies a lot. Women’s Olympic liberos have ranged from about 5’3″ to 5’9″, and men’s from about 5’10” to 6’2″. It is the one indoor position where being short is normal.
Keep playing,
Ryan Walker
YUKI ISHIKAWA IS LISTED AT 6 FEET 4 INCHES.
Bernice, you’re right, and thank you. Ishikawa is listed at 6’4″ (1.92 m), so he never belonged on a short-players list. Your note sent me back through every entry, and more of the heights and medal counts were off than I’d like to admit. I’ve rebuilt the list with seven players whose heights and results I checked, with sources at the bottom. Sorry this sat so long without a reply.