Italy stay perfect to clinch first place in the Nations League league round

Four European sides made it to the knock-out phase of the 2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League, after finishing in the top eight of the league round, which concluded last weekend.

Reigning champions Italy, the hosts of the final round, Poland, the reigning European champions Türkiye and Germany were the four European sides which are still in the mix for the title, with Brazil, Japan, the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America completing the final round line-up.

Italy completed a fantastic sweep of their opponents, securing 12 wins in 12 matches, dropping only seven sets on their way to the first place, which gives them an inside track of securing their third trophy in the FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League, which would see the European powerhouse, the reigning Olympic champions, tying the United States of America as the team with the largest number of gold medals in the history of the competition.

After winning their first eight matches in the first two weeks, Italy headed to Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, where they clinched four more wins. First, they disposed of Belgium, 3:0, following up with a 3:0 win over Serbia.

The toughest battle was the rematch of the final of the CEV EuroVolley 2023 Women, where Italy faced Türkiye and found themselves in a tough spot, after winning the first set, 25:19, but conceded the next two, 21:25 and 21:25.

20 points from Ekaterina Antropova, 17 from Paola Egonu and 15 from Sarah Fahr helped the star-studded Italian line-up to bounce back and take the next two sets, 25:20 and 15:11, as their opponent’s star, Melissa Vargas, had 26 points, but could not help Türkiye to take the win.

Following a 3:0 win over the Netherlands in the last match, Italy secured the first spot, with 33 points, two more than Brazil, which lost a single match in the league round, against Italy, and finished second.

As Japan finished third, Poland, the hosts of the final round, ended up on the fourth spot, with nine wins and three losses, tied on points with Japan, but with a lower set ratio than the Asian side.

In the last week, Poland won against the Republic of Korea, 3:1, and Bulgaria, 3:0, but conceded losses against Brazil (1:3) and Japan (1:3), to drop on the fourth place, after being on the podium for a long time.

Türkiye also lost against Czechia (1:3) and Serbia (0:3) to drop to the sixth place in the standings, while a comeback from Germany, which saw them taking wins against Canada, Thailand and the Dominican Republic, while conceding a 2:3 loss against China, meant that Germany finished on the seventh place in the league round.

With the league round concluded, the final standings were also updated, as France finished ninth, the Netherlands ended up 10th, Czechia on the 11th place, while Bulgaria, Belgium and Serbia finished 13th, 14th and 15th respectively.

The final round of the 2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League will be played in Łódź, Poland between 23 and 26 July.

In the quarter-finals, the two most decorated teams in the history of the competition, Italy and the United States, will face off, with hosts Poland meeting China in the other clash in the top half of the draw.

The other two European teams are in the bottom of the draw, with Germany taking on Brazil and Türkiye meeting Japan on their way to a possible medal match.