Another Italian spectacle - the Women U21 with a historic #EuroVolleyU21W title
Recap
The dreamy Sunday night of Italian Volleyball came to an end with another success - after winning the Men’s U22 and U18 European titles, the Women’s national team U21 followed in the steps of their senior team (who hours earlier claimed Gold at VNL 2022), and grabbed a historic #EuroVolleyU21W title after beating in five sets the inspired team of Serbia.
In what became a rematch of the 2021 Final for the Gold at the U20 Worlds, the Italians locked horns with the Serbians. This time around, the Serbs gave it a real battle (as in 2021 they lost the world title 0-3). The young Italian players found the right motivation and congratulated themselves with the title in the first edition of the competition.
The battle was fierce in the Bronze Medal match as well, as Türkiye and Poland met on court in another tiebreaker, that the Turkish squad emerged victorious from.
Dream team of #EuroVolleyU21W
Best setter: Andrea Tisma (SRB)
Best opposite: Ipar Ozay Kurt (TUR)
Best outside hitters: Branka Tica (SRB) and Loveth Omoruyi (ITA)
Best middle blockers: Emma Graziani (ITA) and Ana Malesevic (SRB)
Best libero: Gulce Guctekin (TUR)
MVP: Emma Gagnin (ITA)
Gold Medal Match
Italy 3-2 Serbia (17-25, 25-17, 15-25, 25-19, 15-11)
Italy didn’t have the best start of the match, as the players of head coach Marijana Boricic tried to establish their rhythm of play. The Italians didn’t give in easily, although it was a close call afterwards (11-11, 14-14), Serbia could speed up and emerge victorious.
The hosts of the Final Round entered more concentrated in the second set, but Serbia also reacted quickly. Thanks go a good performance by Nwakalor on the block, Italy could record four points in a row. This helped the players of Luca Pieragnoli, and controlling the game, they tied the set score.
A point-by-point race marked the beginning of the third set, by three consecutive points by Omoruyi gave Italy a breather at 9-6 in their favour. Boricic called a time-out which worked out, as her players equalised at 9-9, and dominating on the court, taking advantage of Italy’s
lack of concentration in these moments, scored six points in a row for 19-13 in their em favour. This was enough for them in this set, as they won it at 25-15.
It was too early for the Italians to give in, as in the fourth set they improved significantly their performance, and with more confidence, building a comfortable point lead (18-12), brought the game into tiebreak.
The title-deciding set was a hard fought since the very beginning. However, showing precision to the details in the deciding moments, the Italian girls were able to make the home crowds happy, winning the Gold after 15-11.
Statistically, the match was very balanced. The Serbian players showed power on attack, finishing with 58 winning spikes (to 52 by the Italians). Italy, on the other hand, performed better on the block - nine to seven, and aced five times (to two by the Serbs). The hosts were also able to record three more points on their opponents’ errors.
Omoruyi finished as top scorer for her team, with 18 points to her name. Binto Diop added 17. Branka Tica from Serbia was above all in the game, recording 21 points, while her teammate Mina Osmajic added 18.
Emma Graziani"Today, it was a very tiring match. We knew it wasn't going to be easy, because Serbia are a very strong opponent, but I think we have earned this gold. We really did our best, we believed in it with all our heart, and we managed to win."
Martina Armini"It is a gold that we have earned game after game. Every time we went out on the court, we put our heart into it, otherwise all these 3-2 wins would not have happened. We are a strong team, and we proved it last year too, but we had to do it again this year. A round of applause to us, to all the staff because we were very strong "
Türkiye 3-2 Poland (21-25, 25-23, 26-28, 25-21, 15-10)
Poland were off to a flying start in the match. With Julita Piasecka on the serve, and powerful team efforts on the attack, the Poles were able to build a comfortable point difference (15-6 in their favour). The Turkish players tried finding back their way, counting on good serve by Lila Sengun, getting closer at 20-22. However, Poland were able to gather themselves and open in their favour.
Türkiye responded quickly in the next set, leading at 13-8. Dominika Pierzchala’s performance on the serving line served as a confidence booster for Poland, as they seized their chances and equalised at 16-16. In a back and forth chasing around, Ezgi Derin Tasdemir was giving her best. However, none of the teams could record a break point. To the delight of the fans in Pala Tatarella, both Türkiye and Poland were delivering high class Volleyball. However, the Turks found the right recipe to the success in this part, and tied the score. More own errors 10 (to six) were the main problem for Poland in this set.
The third set turned out a real roller coaster of emotions as both teams played “a cat-and-mouse” game, trying to trick the opponent. Good game on the block by Tasdemir and Sengun helped the Turkish team to take the lead at 17-12, but with as many as four aces by Martyna Leoniak at 17-14, Poland turned the table at 18-17 in their favour. In a game of nerves until the last moments, the Polish athletes showed great determination afterwards, winning at 28-26.
Not ready to see their dream of winning the bronze medals slipping away, the Turkish came back on the court, leading at 10-5. Despite Poland’s efforts, Türkiye did not look back and won the set, delivering a 51% efficiency rate on the attack, and bringing the match into a tiebreaker.
In the most important set, Karmen Aksoy and her teammates outplayed the Poles and with a spike by Tasdemir grabbed the Bronze.
Precisely Tasdemir became top scorer of the game, finishing with 26 points to her name, followed by Poland’s Karolina Druzkowska with 22 and Julita Piasecka with 20.
Overall, Poland were the slightly better team on the different elements - finishing with 61 winning spikes (to 60), 15 kill blocks (to 12) and nine aces (to eight). However, their errors costed them the medals - as they let their rivals record 30 (to 19) on this count.