# Myriam Sylla

Myriam Fatime Sylla, born on January 8th 1995, is a professional Italian volleyball player. She plays outside hitter for both the Italian Women's National Volleyball Team, and the Italian volleyball club, Vero Volley Milano in the A1 division of the Lega Volley Femminile.
She competed at the 2015 European Games in Baku, the 2015 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix, the 2017 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix, and the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League. She was also part of the 2024 Italian Volleyball Olympic Team for the 2024 Summer Olympics, where Italy took home the gold medal.

## Club and National Team career

Myriam has played for Progetto Volley Orago (2010-2011), MC-Carnaghi Villa Cortese (2012-2013), Volley Bergamo (2013-2018), Imoco Volley (2018-2022), and Vero Volley Milano (2022-present).
Myriam made her Serie A1 debut with MC-Carnaghi Villa Cortese, before signing with Volley Bergamo in 2013. She has also been a part of the Italian Women's National Volleyball Team since 2015.

## Personal life
### Start in Volleyball

Myriam's parents migrated to Italy in the early 1990's, and she was born in Palermo, Italy, to Ivorian parents Abdoulaye and Salimata Sylla. However, due to economic struggles, they soon moved to Valgreghentino, in the province of Lecco. There, at 12 years old, she accompanied her cousin to a volleyball tryout for fun, but was selected to be on the team immediately. Although born in Italy, Myriam didn't have an Italian passport. This meant she could not compete for the Italian youth or senior national team. However, this changed when Myriam was 16 years old. Myriam and her entire family acquired Italian passports, opening the door for Myriam to play with the Italian Youth National Volleyball Team.

### Other Ventures

In 2019, Myriam published her first book, Tutta la Forza Che ho (English: With all the Strength I Have) which details the difficulties Myriam has faced to get to where she is today. Additionally, in April of 2024, she released the first two volumes of the Dream Volley series, with co-author Annalisa Strada. There are a total of five volumes released thus far; Forza, Vola... Vai! (Vol. 1, 9 April 2024), Una Squadra da Salvare (Vol. 2, 9 April 2024), In Transferta! (Vol. 3, 1 October 2024), La Grande Occasione (Vol. 4, 5 November 2024), and Il Nuovo Allenatore (Vol. 5, 5 February 2025).

## Awards
### Individuals

* 2018 FIVB World Championship "Best outside spiker"
* 2019 European Championship "Best outside spiker"
* 2021 European Championship "Best outside spiker"
* 2022 FIVB World Championship "Best outside spiker"
* 2022/2023 Lega Volley Femminile "Best outside hitter"
* 2024 FIVB Nations League "Best outside spiker"
* 2024 Olympic Games Paris "Best outside spiker"

### Clubs

* 2015-16 Italian Cup (Coppa Italia) – Champions, with Volley Bergamo
* 2018 Italian Supercup – Champions, with Imoco Volley Conegliano
* 2018–19 Italian League – Champion, with Imoco Volley Conegliano
* 2018–19 CEV Champions League – Runner-Up, with Imoco Volley Conegliano
* 2019 Italian Supercup – Champions, with Imoco Volley Conegliano
* 2019 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship – Champion, with Imoco Volley Conegliano
* 2019-20 Italian Cup (Coppa Italia) – Champion, with Imoco Volley Conegliano
* 2020 Italian Supercup – Champions, with Imoco Volley Conegliano
* 2020-21 Italian Cup (Coppa Italia) – Champion, with Imoco Volley Conegliano
* 2020–21 Italian League – Champion, with Imoco Volley Conegliano
* 2020–21 CEV Women's Champions League – Champion, with Imoco Volley Conegliano
* 2021 Italian Supercup – Champions, with Imoco Volley Conegliano
* 2021-22 Italian Cup (Coppa Italia) – Champion, with Imoco Volley Conegliano
* 2021–22 Italian League – Champion, with Imoco Volley Conegliano