Ran Takahashi

is a Japanese male volleyball player and an Olympian. He plays as an Outside Hitter for Nippon Sport Science University's club, Japan men's national volleyball team, Vero Volley Monza and Suntory Sunbirds.

Biography
Ran Takahashi was born on 2 September 2001 in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. His mother is a Japanese of part British and German descent, and his father is Japanese. Ran has one brother, Rui, who is one and a half year older, and one younger sister, Riri. He started playing volleyball following the footsteps of his brother. His sister also plays volleyball.

Elementary school years
Ran started playing volleyball in his second grade of elementary school for the school's team.

High school years
Ran played for Kyoto Municipal Hachigaoka Junior High School. Because of his height, in the first grade, he was mainly used as a Libero.

Afterward, he attended Higashiyama High School, and he was in the starting line up in high school since his first year and served as an ace and captain of his team by the third year. He led his team to the top 4 of the "Inter-High School Sports Festival." Furthermore, his team won the "National Sports Festival" of Japan as well as the winter 2020 All Japan High School Volleyball Championships, also known as "Haruko." In addition, he received the "Most valuable player" award at the end of the competition.

He has no under category experience at all, but he was immediately elected as a senior representative in February 2020 while he was still in the 3rd grade of high school.

College years and overseas
After graduating from high school, Ran entered Nippon Sport Science University. He led the team, receiving the runner-up place in the 2020 All Japan Intercollegiate Volleyball Championship, and got the Best scorer award from the competition. In 2021, he was one of the Outside Hitters for the Japan men's national volleyball team in 2020 Summer Olympics.

After winning 2nd place at the Asian Men's Volleyball Championship with the Japan men's national volleyball team, he returned to play for his college team in the 2021 Kanto University Men's Division 1 League, winning 1st place by defeating Waseda University in straight sets. He also played for his college team in the 2021 All Japan Intercollegiate Volleyball Championship. Regrettably, they lost in the quarterfinals against Jutendo University in 5 sets.

On November 29, it was reported that Ran would play in the Italian Volleyball League Division 1 with Pallavolo Padova. He flew to Italy on December 10 and his jersey number is 14, the same as Yūki Ishikawa's when he played with Padova.

On December 19, he debuted in the highest Italian league as a substitute in the third set against Modena Volley.

Pallavolo Padova announced that Ran has renewed his contract with the club for Season 2022-2023. He was nominated MVP of the match against Valsa Group Modena for the first time in Italian league.

Vero Volley Monza revealed that they have signed with Ran Takahashi for Season 2023–2024.

Clubs

 * 🇯🇵 Higashiyama High School (2017–2020)
 * 🇯🇵 Nippon Sport Science University (2020–present)
 * 🇮🇹 Pallavolo Padova (2021–2023)
 * 🇮🇹 Vero Volley Monza (2023–2024)
 * 🇯🇵 Suntory Sunbirds (2024–2025)

Personal life
He owns an Instagram account with 2 million followers, a YouTube and Tiktok channel with his brother, called RanRui, which is a portmanteau of their given names.

Ran Takahashi: The First Photobook, a career retrospective, was released on August 22, 2022.

Individual

 * 2020 All Japan High School Volleyball Championships – Most Valuable Player
 * 2020 All Japan Intercollegiate Volleyball Championship – Best Scorer
 * 2023 Asian Championship – Best Outside Spiker
 * 2023 Anan Awards – Anan Awards for Athlete Category
 * Superlega 2023/2024 season – Best Receiver Awards

High school team

 * 2020 All Japan High School Volleyball Championships – Simple cup icon.svg Champion, with Higashiyama High School

College team

 * 2020 All Japan Intercollegiate Volleyball Championship – [[file:Med 2.png]] Runner-up, with Nippon Sport Science University
 * 2021 Kanto University Men's Division 1 League – Simple cup icon.svg Champion, with Nippon Sport Science University

National team

 * 2021 Asian Championship – [[file:Med 2.png]] Runner-up
 * 2023 Volleyball Nations League – 🥉 3rd place
 * 2023 Asian Championship – Simple cup icon.svg Champion
 * 2023 World Cup - 🥈 Runner-Up
 * 2024 Volleyball Nations League - 🥈 Runner-Up

Club team

 * Vero Volley Monza
 * 2023/24 Coppa Italia - 🥈 2nd Place
 * 2023/24 CEV Challenge Cup - 🥈 2nd Place
 * 2023/24 Italian Superlega - 🥈 2nd Place

Ambassador
He becomes an ambassador for campaigns of the brands: KOSÉ and DIOR