European Championships: The Italian Women’s Volleyball Team Keeps Rolling: Paola Egonu Leads in Scoring in Their Fourth Straight Win

The European Championship continues with another 3-0 victory for the women’s national volleyball team, which—on the fourth day of Group D play—defeated Slovakia, coached by Martino Volpini, without dropping a single set (25-19, 25-18, 25-20) the Slovakian team coached by Martino Volpini, remaining well in the running for first place in the group—a position that would be secured with a victory in their final group stage match against France.

The star of the match was Paola Egonu, who led all scorers with 19 points. Among the players coached by Julio Velasco, Myriam Silla stood out on offense with 12 points, while Stella Nervini and Sarah Fahr each finished with 9. On the other side, the 13 points scored by Zuzana Sepelova, the top performer for the Slovaks, were not enough. The match lasted just over an hour and a quarter in total, with each set lasting roughly the same amount of time: 24 minutes for the first, 25 for the second, and 26 for the third.

The Azzurre have just one more match to complete Group D, taking place in Gothenburg: on Wednesday, August 26, they’ll face France in a head-to-head clash at the top of the standings, followed by a trip to the Czech Republic to compete in the final phase. Regardless of their standing in the standings, the Exhibition Center in Brno will host the Azzurre in the round of 16 and, if they advance, in the quarterfinals.

The semifinals and finals (for first and third place) will be played at the Sinen Erden Spor Salonu in Istanbul, Turkey, which will also host four round-of-16 matches and two quarterfinals. Turkey is once again hosting the Women’s European Championship final seven years after the 2019 edition: at that time, however, Ankara was the venue for the gold medal match, which Serbia won 3–2 over Turkey, as well as the bronze medal match, which Italy won 3–0 over Poland.