LPB Ninh Bình welcomes European champion to replace Bích Tuyền?

The reigning runner-up of the National Championship is looking for high-caliber offensive players to cover the gap created by Nguyễn Thị Bích Tuyền's departure.

The LPB Ninh Bình women's volleyball team is very close to signing foreign player Edina Begic for the matches in Stage 1 of the 2026 National Women's Volleyball Championship, held in Đông Anh, Hanoi next April.

Edina Begic, born in 1992, plays as an outside hitter with a height of 1.85m, a jump reach of 3.16m, and a block reach of 3.00m. This foreign player has an impressive resume, having played for top clubs such as Vero Volley Milano (Italy), Dinamo Moscow (Russia), Kuzeyboru (Turkey), and most recently Beijing (China). Representing the Bosnia national team, she won the gold medal in the 2021 European Silver League and received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

Notably, Begic has twice won European cups: the CEV Challenge Cup and the CEV Cup while playing for Milano. Another interesting fact about Begic: after parting with Kuzeyboru at the end of the 2023-2024 season, the Turkish club recruited Trần Thị Thanh Thúy to replace this 32-year-old star, though "4T" did not have much opportunity to shine there.

She is not an unfamiliar face to Vietnamese volleyball fans, as she previously played for Geleximco Thái Bình in Stage 1 of the 2025 National Championship. Alongside players like Miroslava Paskova and Jelena Vulin, the 33-year-old hitter proved her class in the first half of last season, gaining widespread admiration and affection.

The determination to recruit Edina Begic demonstrates LPB Ninh Bình's high ambitions for this year's National Championship season. Without Nguyễn Thị Bích Tuyền – who will only accompany the ancient capital's team on the coaching bench, the team is striving to bring in quality explosive players to fill the position of this elite opposite hitter.

Previously, coach Thái Thanh Tùng welcomed a series of new recruits: Nguyễn Thị Uyên, Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai, Nguyễn Thị Thủy, and Phạm Thị Như Quỳnh, among whom Nguyễn Uyên and Thanh Mai previously played alongside Edina Begic at Thái Bình last season.