Barbara Jelić-Ružić (born 8 May 1977) is a former international volleyball player for Croatia.

This article uses bare URLs, which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot. (August 2022)

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (February 2013)

Quick Facts Personal information, Full name ...

Barbara Jelić
Personal information
Full name	Barbara Jelić-Ružić
Born	(1977-05-08) May 8, 1977 (age 46) Novo Mesto, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	75 kg (165 lb)
Spike	320 cm (130 in)
Volleyball information
Position	outside hitter
Honours Women’s Volleyball Representing  Croatia European Championship 1995 Netherlands Team 1997 Czech Republic Team 1999 Italy Team

Close

Barbara is the sister of volleyball player Vesna Jelić who was also part of the Croatian team at the 2000 Summer Olympics. They are the daughters of volleyball player Ivica Jelić who was the head coach of the Croatian team in 2000 and played for the Yugoslav team at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Jelić was born in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, Yugoslavia to Croatian father Ivica and Slovenian mother Margareta, both former players.^[1] At 17 she went to Japan to play as a professional for five years, where she was frequently honored best player in different categories.

As an outstanding outside and opposite hitter she led the Croatian team with her father Ivica Jelić as coach to three silver medals at the European Championships 1995, 1997 and 1999, a sensational 7th place at the Olympics in Sydney 2000 and a 6th place at the World Championship 1998 in Japan. Thereby she often scored more points than the rest of her teammates all together. Accordingly, she was elected best scorer at the WC 1998, the World Cup 1999, the Olympic Qualification 2000 and more. In 2000, she was honored best player of Europe. She was considered the most valuable player at the Sydney Games.

After her time in Japan she played in the Italian and Turkish league gaining further titles - with an interruption in the 2000–01 season to become a mother^[2] - and called it a career in 2004. She briefly returned to support Croatia at the European Championship in her home country in 2005, persuaded by her coach-father to be a role model for young Croatian girls. After a good 3rd place in preliminaries with outstanding Ružić, Croatia finished ranked 8th with Ružić being slightly injured in the final round.

In 2001, she married Tomislav Ružić, a Croatian basketball player. As of 2015, Jelić-Ružić lives in Zadar with her husband and two children named Zara and Michael.^[3]