Paola Egonu and Kate Antropova dominate: Italvolley among the top four in Europe

The Italian women’s volleyball team staged a comeback, defeating Sweden 3-1 in the quarterfinals of the European Championships in Brno (Czech Republic) and thus advancing to the semifinals of the continental competition. 21-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-23 were the set scores of a closely contested match, in which Paola Egonu and Kate Antropova made the difference on offense, scoring 27 and 22 points, respectively. The Azzurre’s next opponent will be the winner of Thursday’s match between Poland and the Netherlands, scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

In addition to the performances by Egonu and Antropova, Myriam Sylla’s 14 points and Sarah Fahr’s 9 points were also noteworthy. On the other side, however, the 42 points from an incredible Isabelle Haak, as well as the 11 from Hanna Helvig and the 10 from Anna Haak—Isabelle’s older sister—proved ultimately futile. Thus, the Swedish national team’s run—coached by Italian Lorenzo Micelli—comes to an end.