Volleyball, Women’s European Championship: Italy’s women’s team keeps rolling, Montenegro defeated. Paola Egonu and Kate Antropova shine

Italy’s second win in two matches at the Women’s European Volleyball Championship: in Gothenburg, where Group C matches are currently underway, the Azzurre—coached by Julio Velasco—defeated Montenegro 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-19), thus repeating their decisive opening-match victory over Croatia and remaining undefeated at the top of the standings.

The standout performers were Kate Antropova, the top scorer with 13 points, and Paola Egonu, who recorded 11 winning spikes. Stella Nervini also reached double digits with 10 points, while Denise Meli and Anna Danesi both delivered strong offensive performances, each scoring 7 times during the match. On the other side, Saska Djurovic’s 13 points were the highlight, with little else to note: for Montenegro, this marks their second 3-0 loss, following Friday’s defeat at the hands of the host team, Sweden.

The women’s national team’s campaign at the European Volleyball Championship continues in the coming days with the remaining three Group C matches: the Azzurre will face Sweden on Sunday at 6 p.m., Slovakia on Tuesday at 4 p.m., and France on Wednesday, also at 4 p.m. The top four teams from each group advance to the round of 16, where they will face off against teams from Group A (which includes Turkey, Latvia, Poland, Germany, Slovenia, and Hungary).

The 2026 tournament marks the 34th edition of the Women’s European Volleyball Championship, which was first held in 1949 in Czechoslovakia, with the Soviet Union emerging as the champion. For Italy, this marks its 28th appearance (the team did not participate in the 1949, 1955, 1958, 1963, and 1979 editions). Italy has won the tournament three times: in 2007 in the final against Serbia and two years later against the Netherlands (3-0 in both cases), followed by a 3-1 victory over Serbia in 2021.