Following Italy’s victory over the United States on Saturday, they were awarded bronze medals at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship 2022.
In the match for third place, which took place in the city of Apeldoorn in the Netherlands, the defending winners of the Volleyball Nations League and Europe posted an astounding 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 27-25) shutout victory over the defending champions of the Olympics. The Italian female athletes have completed their collection of World Championship medals, which now includes the gold medal they won in 2002 as well as the silver medal they won in 2018.
The much-anticipated grand finale, which will take place between Brazil and Serbia to decide who will win the 2022 world championship and who will take home the silver medal, is scheduled to get underway in just a few moments, at 8:00 PM local time (18:00 GMT).
Paola Egonu, Italy’s standout opposite player at age 23, delivered another high-scoring performance and led her side to win with a game-high 25 points to her name. Paola Egonu was Italy’s star opposite player. She added four kill blocks and an ace to her record in addition to her already impressive tally of 20 spiking points, which she earned while achieving a success percentage of 53% in attack. The only other player to score in the double digits during the match was Andrea Drews, her American opponent. She finished with 10 points.
An ace served by Egonu put Italy up by two points for the first time, making the score 5-3; however, the United States immediately tied the score, assumed control of the situation, and eventually went away with a four-point advantage.
The Europeans leveled the match with four unanswered points, including a combined three kill blocks from the middle blocker Marina Lubian and outside hitter Egonu, bringing the score to 13-13. Alessia Orro, who plays for Italy’s setting team, pounded an overpass to put her squad back in the lead, 15-14.
The Italians recovered four straight points, including an ace by outside hitter Caterina Bosetti for 18-15, to take a 19-15 lead and never looked back after that. Egonu was on fire during that stretch of play. Anna Danesi’s spike through the middle of the court brought up set point when the score was 24-20, and a net touch by the Americans finished off the opening set at 25-20.
The Americans seized their first lead of the second set with a cross-court swing by Drews for 2-1, and with an ace by setter Lauren Carlini for 9-6, they stretched their lead to three points. This gave them their first chance to win the set since the beginning of the match.
At 11-10, Italy took the lead when Danesi and Egonu in attack made some deft plays, which contributed to the run of three points that gave them the advantage. They then proceeded to score another five points in a row, bringing their total to 17-11, before scoring another four points in a row, bringing their score to 21-13. The decisive phase of the match was capped off by two consecutive aces served up by Lubian, which brought the score of the set to 25-15 and ended Italy’s dominant performance.
Throughout the entirety of the third set, the action on the court was characterized by a tight and intense duel. There were several ties for the lead, and both of them happened multiple times. After an ace by US middle Haleigh Washington, which put the score at 17-14, the gap between the teams grew to be greater than two points for the first time.
The Americans managed to keep their foothold on the lead thanks to the momentum that was building in their favor. They were given four chances to win the set and remain in the match after Drews’ direct serving point for 23-20 and Washington’s monster block for 24-20, which gave them four attempts to win the set and remain in the match respectively.
Despite the fact that Sylla and Egonu had possession of the net, the Italians were able to stop all four of their shots and then one more before seizing control in overtime and getting to the point of match point. The celebrations for the bronze medal were kicked off by Danesi’s monster block at the conclusion, which gave their team a score of 27-25.
“We had a dream, but we were unable to play our game when we faced Brazil. “So we came here under pressure, not from outside sources but from ourselves, to get a medal, and I hope all of you enjoyed it,” Sylla remarked after they won the competition.
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