Women’s Italvolley: Antropova and Her Teammates Put Controversy and Ghosts Behind Them
The Italian women’s volleyball team has definitively put its crushing 0-3 loss to the United States behind it and returned to dominant form in its final match of Week 2 of the 2026 Women’s Volleyball Nations League: The Azzurre, in fact, swept Japan 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-18), securing their sixth victory in this first phase and climbing decisively back to the top of the standings.
Ekaterina Antropova was the top scorer for head coach Julio Velasco’s team: The 2003-born opposite hitter scored 17 points, though this did not overshadow the equally impressive performances of outside hitters Stella Nervini and Loveth Omoruyi, both of whom scored in double digits with 10 points each.
The final 3-0 score is even more decisive than the set scores suggest and restores confidence, immediately silencing the controversy that arose on social media following the loss to the United States. Now the Azzurre can take a couple of days off before returning to training: Week 3 is scheduled for July 8–12, with matches against Ukraine, Belgium, Canada, and China.
Introduced in 2018 to replace the World Grand Prix (and the men’s World League), the Volleyball Nations League has very often been a source of success for the Italian national teams: the women’s team, in particular, has won gold three times, claiming victory in the 2022 and 2025 finals against Brazil and the 2024 final against Japan.
