VNL, Italy back to winning ways: China knocked out, Paola Egonu top scorer

VNL women, Italy-China 3-0

Italy ended Sunday’s match against China, valid for the Women’s Volleyball Nations League, with a wide-ranging and well-deserved success. The 3-0 final (25-23, 25-19, 25-16 the partials) allows Julio Velasco’s Azzurre to continue the Olympic dream, as well as to place themselves in a good position to continue the adventure in the VNL itself.

It was only in the first set that the Chinese seemed to hold their own against the Azzurre, fresh from their tie-break loss to Brazil on Saturday: Italy took a risk on 22-23, but placed a 3-0 partial that allowed them to close the set in their favor and, in fact, put the match on the downhill slope.

Between the second and third sets, in fact, China found itself ahead just twice, while Italy upped the pace and thanks mainly to the points of Paola Egonu (top scorer with 16), Myriam Sylla (12) and Marina Lubian (10) managed to earn as many as nine match points, closing at the second opportunity.

The Blue Women, after the matches played in Macau, thus climb in the standings, coming in at 6 wins and 2 losses for 18 total points. Missing to complete the group stage are matches against Canada, South Korea, the United States and Serbia, which will be played from Tuesday, June 11 to Sunday, June 16 in Fukuoka, Japan.