Isabelle Haak (born 11 July 1999) is a Swedish

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player, who plays as an opposite for the Italian club

Imoco Volley Conegliano Imoco Volley is an Italian women's volleyball club based in Conegliano and currently playing in the Serie A1. History The club was founded on 15 March 2012, two months after the bankruptcy of the other volleyball team in Conegliano. In April 2 ...

and the Swedish national team.

Club career

Haak started playing volleyball at the youth teams of her hometown club Engelholms VS and at the age of 14 made her debut for the first team in the

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

. She became part of the starting line-up of the team in the 2014/15 season and helped Engelholms VS win the Swedish Championship for two consecutive seasons. She was elected Player of the Year by the Swedish Volleyball Federation in both 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons. In the early years of her career, Haak participated in

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

as well as indoor volleyball. Together with her partner Fanny Åhman, she was fourth in the 2015 U18 European Championships in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

. After two successful seasons in Engelholm, Haak signed a contract with the French club Béziers VB for the 2016/17 season. With her new team, Haak reached the final at the French Cup where Béziers lost to

Venelles Venelles (; oc, Venèla) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France near Aix-en-Provence. The current mayor is Arnaud Mercier. History In 15 BC, there was a Roman settlement there. It was then destroyed by the Lomba ...

2–3 in a very closely contested match. She was the top scorer of the French League in the regular season, and voted the

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

and the best opposite spiker of the season. Despite finishing third in the regular season, Béziers were defeated by the defending champions sixth-seeded Saint-Raphaël at the first round of the playoffs. At the end of the season, Haak joined the Italian side Savino Del Bene Scandicci. In her first season in Italy, Haak became the scoring champion of the league with 491 points, averaging the season's highest 6.14 points per set, and was selected for the All Star game while her team Scandicci finished the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

in second place, just one point behind Igor Gorgonzola Novara. In the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, Scandicci eliminated

Volley Pesaro Volley Pesaro is an Italian women's volleyball club based in Pesaro currently playing in the Serie A1. The club won three Italian leagues and international titles. Previous names Due to sponsorship, the club have competed under the following na ...

in the first round but lost to

in the semifinals. After two seasons in Italy, Haak joined

VakıfBank S.K. VakıfBank is the second largest bank in Turkey in terms of asset size, established with an initial capital of TL 50 million on January 11, 1954 and later started operating on April 13, 1954. Abdi Serdar Üstünsalih has been selected as the CEO ...

in 2019. With the Turkish club she won both the

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

and the

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

in the 2020/21 season. Isabelle Haak was also selected as the MVP in the Turkish League this season. In Haak's third season playing for VakifBank S.K. (the 2021/22 season) she won 5 out of 5 titles with her club: The

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup ( Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known a ...

, the FIVB Club World Championship, the

, the

and the

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tot ...

. Haak received the MVP awards in both the Club World Championship and the Turkish Cup. In 2022 Isabelle Haak left Turkey and went back to play in the Italian LVF Serie A1 league but this time for Imoco Conegliano. With her new club she won 4 out of 5 titles in her first season: The Italian Super Cup, the FIVB Club World Championship, the

Italian Cup Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and the

Italian League The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

. Haak once again received the MVP award in the Club World Championship and she also received the MVP award in the Italian Cup.

International career

Haak made her international debut with the Swedish national volleyball team against

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

on 10 May 2014 at the age of fourteen, and became the youngest ever volleyball player to represent Sweden at senior level. She was the member of the Swedish U19 teams that won the U19 NEVZA (North European Volleyball Zonal Association) Championships in 2014 and 2015.

Personal life

Haak was born in

Perstorp Perstorp is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Perstorp Municipality in Skåne County, Sweden with 6,054 inhabitants (2018). It is twinned with Newton Aycliffe, a town in the North-East of England. History 19th Century Moder ...

but she later moved to

Ängelholm Ängelholm is a locality and the seat of Ängelholm Municipality in Skåne, Sweden with 39,612 inhabitants in 2010. History The old settlement ''Rynestad'' was mentioned around the year 1600. The city was founded in 1516 as Engelholm by King Chri ...

shortly after her father had passed away from

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...

when she was 9 years old. Her older sister

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

is also a national volleyball player and was her teammate during her time in Engelholms VS.

Awards

Individuals

* ''2014–15

"Player of the Year"'' * ''2014–15

"Top Scorer"'' * ''2015–16

"Player of the Year"'' * ''2015–16

"Top Scorer"'' * ''2016–17 Ligue A Fémminine "Most valuable player"'' * ''2016–17 Ligue A Fémminine "Best opposite spiker"'' * ''2016–17 Ligue A Fémminine "Top Scorer"'' * '' 2017–18 Lega Pallavolo Serie A Femminile "Top Scorer"'' * '' 2019 FIVB Club World Championship "Best opposite"'' * ''2020–21

"Most valuable player"'' * '' 2020–21 CEV Champions League "Top Scorer"'' * '' 2021 FIVB Club World Championship "Best opposite"'' * '' 2021 FIVB Club World Championship "Most valuable player"'' * ''2021–22

Turkish Women's Volleyball Cup The Turkish Women's Volleyball Cup ( tr, Türkiye Kadınlar Voleybol Türkiye Kupası), is a national cup for professional women's volleyball in Turkey, organized by the Turkish Volleyball Federation since the 1994-95 season. Between 2003 and 2008 ...

"Most valuable player"'' * ''2021–22

"Best opposite"'' * '' 2021–22 CEV Champions League "Top Scorer"'' * ''2021–22 Best Female Volleyball Player of the Year by CEV'' * '' 2022 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship "Most valuable player"'' * '' 2022 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship "Best opposite spiker"'' * ''2022–23 Italian Cup (Coppa Italia) "Most valuable player"''

Clubs

* 2014–15

–

Champion, with Engelholms VS * 2015–16

–

Champion, with Engelholms VS * 2016–17 Coupe de France – Gorm silver cup

Runner-Up, with Béziers VB * 2019

–

Runner-Up, with

* 2019 FIVB Club World Championship – Bronze medal, with

* 2020

– Runner-Up, with

* 2020–21

– Champion, with

* 2020–21

– Champion, with

2020–21 CEV Champions League The 2020–21 CEV Champions League was the 62nd edition of the highest level European volleyball club competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation. Qualification Pools composition Drawing of Lots was held on 21 August 2020 i ...

– Runner-Up, with

Vakıfbank S.K. VakıfBank is the second largest bank in Turkey in terms of asset size, established with an initial capital of TL 50 million on January 11, 1954 and later started operating on April 13, 1954. Abdi Serdar Üstünsalih has been selected as the CEO ...

* 2021

– Champion, with

* 2021 FIVB Club World Championship – Champion, with

* 2021–22

– Champion, with

* 2021–22

– Champion, with

2021–22 CEV Champions League The 2021–22 CEV Champions League was the 63rd edition of the highest level European volleyball club competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation. Qualification Pools composition Drawing of Lots was held on 24 September 20 ...

– Champion, with

* 2022 Italian Super Cup – Champion, with

Imoco Volley Imoco Volley is an Italian women's volleyball club based in Conegliano and currently playing in the Serie A1. History The club was founded on 15 March 2012, two months after the bankruptcy of the other volleyball team in Conegliano. In April 2 ...

* 2022 FIVB Club World Championship – Champion, with

* 2022–23 Italian Cup (Coppa Italia) – Champion, with

* 2022–23

– Champion, with

National team

Junior team

* 2014 U19 NEVZA Championship – Gold Medal * 2015 U19 NEVZA Championship – Gold Medal

Senior team

* 2018 Women's Silver European Volleyball League – Gold Medal * 2022 Women's Silver European Volleyball League – Gold Medal * 2023 Women's Gold European Volleyball League – Silver Medal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haak, Isabelle 1999 births Living people Swedish women's volleyball players Swedish expatriate sportspeople in France Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey VakıfBank S.K. volleyballers People from Perstorp Municipality Sportspeople from Skåne County