Italy continue their winning streak
News
The CEV Trendyol EuroVolley 2026 fixture between Italy and Montenegro was their first head-to-head encounter, as they had never met in an official competitive match before. The historic game ended in a 3–0 victory of Italy (25–13, 25–20, 25–19).
Montenegro kept pace with Italy up to 2–2, but then Italy showed why they have won so many tournaments. Usual suspects Paola Egonu and Ekaterina Antropova were given some rest as Italy rotated heavily, allowing their substitutes to showcase their quality.
The second set followed a similar pattern to the first, with Italy again resting their biggest stars from time to time. Montenegro's Saška Đurović performed well, finishing as her team's top scorer in both spikes and total points.
As in the second set, Montenegro fought well in the third, but Italy eventually won it 25–19.
Ekaterina Antropova collected six aces in the match.
For the first time in 35 years, a national team making its EuroVolley debut met the reigning Olympic champions. You have to go back to 1991 to find a match like this, when Albania faced the Soviet Union, who held the Olympic, World and European titles simultaneously.
Montenegro's current coach, Jovo Caković, led Serbia's U18 national team to a 3–0 victory over the Azzurrine at the 2015 U18 European Championship. Just like today, that Italian squad featured players such as Alessia Orro and Paola Egonu.
Paola Egonu ahead of the Sweden game: “I mean, we know there is an amazing player like Bella Haak, but also the rest of the team, so I think we'll just focus and try to make our own game and stay focused.”
Saška Djurović“We were really nervous. This is our first European Championship and playing against these players is really big. But when we relaxed, it got better.”
Midlle Blocker of Montenegro Team
Paola Egonu“Congratulations to Montenegro for reaching this Championship. I really appreciated their mood and the way they fought.”
Italian Opposite
To be continued...