Italy storm into Olympic Games quarter-finals
Women’s volleyball’s No. 1-ranked team in the world, Italy, stormed into the quarter-finals at the Olympic Games in Paris as they dominated Pool C, and they have an all-European quarter-final to look forward to in the last eight.
Italy have looked imperious throughout the competition thus far, only dropping one set in their three pool stage matches. That set was taken from them in their opening match against Dominican Republic. After that they defeated two European sides, Netherlands and Turkiye, 3-0 to secure top spot in the pool.
The talismanic Paola Egonu has led the way for Italy in the competition, leading the scoring for her nation in two of the three matches. Egonu was rested against Netherlands as Italy rotated their squad, and Ekaterina Antropova stepped up against the Dutch, scoring a spectacular 33 points.
Italy will face Serbia in the last eight after Serbia finished as one of the strongest third-place teams, coming through a tough group which also contained China and USA.
Serbia started off their campaign with a convincing 3-0 win over host nation France, before suffering a 3-2 defeat at the hands of USA, in which they battled back from two sets down to force a fifth set, suffering heartbreak in the decider as USA clinched it 17-15.
Serbia finished the pool stage with a 3-1 defeat to China. Tijana Boskovic has been in scintillating form during the competition for Serbia, leading her side in scoring in all three matches, including 31 points against USA and an astonishing 39 points against China.
Whoever prevails between Italy and Serbia could face Turkiye in the semi-finals after they secured a second-place finish in Pool C. It was almost a disaster of a start to the competition as Turkiye lost the first two sets against Netherlands, but they rallied and won in a deciding fifth set. That impressive comeback was followed up by a 3-1 victory over Dominican Republic, before they fell 3-0 to Italy in the top spot decider.
Melissa Vargas has been Turkiye’s outstanding performer in the competition, leading the team in scoring including a 31-point haul against Dominican Republic and a 30-point game against Netherlands. Turkiye face China in the quarter-finals, who finished top of Pool A.
The other European side to reach the quarter-finals is Poland, the world No. 3. In a competitive Pool B, Poland opened with a 3-1 win over Japan, where they battled back from dropping the opening set, led by Agnieszka Korneluk’s 20 points.
That win was backed up by a 3-0 victory over Kenya, before Poland fell 3-0 at the hands of Brazil, who topped Pool B winning every match without dropping a set. Poland face USA in the last eight, who finished second in Pool A behind China, and if they can get past the North Americans, could set up a rematch against Brazil in the semi-finals as the South Americans take on Dominican Republic. The quarter-finals take place on Tuesday 6th August.