PARIS, France – Top-ranked Italy dominated the United States to win the Olympic women’s volleyball final on Sunday, August 11, crushing the defending champions in straight sets to claim their first gold medal on the final day of the Games. Italy came into the Olympics as the Volleyball Nations League champions and did not lose a match en route to gold, dropping one set in the pool stage and none in the knockouts. As Italy sealed a 25-18, 25-20, 25-17 victory, Paola Egonu was the star of the show after the 25-year-old, one of the top scorers in the tournament in Paris, finished with 22 points and 4 blocks.
“I am so happy, so proud, I can’t describe the joy for this group of girls...
This year has been very beautiful,” Egonu said. The Americans had won a medal at the last five Olympics and the silver was their seventh overall – more than any other country in women’s volleyball – but they were no match for Italy on Sunday. Egonu gave Italy a blistering start, with the 6-foot 5-inch opposite heavily involved in every rally on both defense at the net and in attack, forcing the Americans into an early timeout as they fell behind.
Although the US staged a comeback, Egonu sealed the opening set with a spike that gave American Chiaka Ogbogu no chance of recovering. The second set was neck-and-neck at the start, before a kill from Myriam Sylla and monster blocks from Anna Danesi and Sarah Fahr gave Italy a lead to build on. The US fought its way back again, but Egonu ma.