Italy and France Crown their 2022 VNL Journeys with Gold
News
Reigning European Champions, Italy and Reigning Olympic Champions, France have won the Volleyball Nations League 2022 titles for the first time in their history following emphatic wins in the Finals held in Ankara, Türkiye (women’s finals) and Bologna, Italy (men’s finals).
The women’s podium was completed by finalists Brazil and bronze medal winners, Serbia who triumphed against hosts Türkiye to get their first VNL podium, while the men’s podium was completed by Finalists USA and bronze medalists Poland, who in turn defeated men’s hosts Italy to get on their consecutive VNL podium.
With three out of four teams for each gender representing Europe, fans of European Volleyball were extremely confident in their chances of celebrating following the Final of each event and they were not disappointed. Home fans however were hoping for more from crowd favorites Türkiye and Italy, especially after being greatly rewarded by their teams performances, yet it was not meant to be for the two who now have to look forward to the next national teams competitions.
In the men’s final, French stars Jean Patry and Earvin Ngapeth were unstoppable with 39 points between them to lead the Olympic champions to the highest step of the VNL podium. It was by no means an easy task however for the French team lead by Andrea Giani, being pushed to the limits and into a 5th set by the USA, making their first VNL win feel even more rewarding.
In the women’s final, Italy was superb! A straight sets win in which superstar Paola Egonu continued to shine bright, her 21 points, including three blocks, contributing greatly to her team’s victory. On the other side of the net, Brazil’s captain and CEV Champions League Volley SuperFinals MVP, Vakifbank’s Gabriela Guimaraes managed 11 points.
Outstanding performance by the European Nations yet again in the Volleyball Nations League, now time for fans to focus their attention towards the CEV EuroVolley 2023 Qualifiers coming up in August – September, followed by the Men’s World Championship (26 Aug-11 Sept) and the Women’s World Championship (23 Sept – 15 Oct).
