Italy’s star opposite Paola Egonu kept her cool in the face of a rising opponent and contributed a match-high 27 points towards a 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-15, 25-15) victory in this southern European clash with Bulgaria, who took on the mighty rival with some of their key players on the proverbial bench. The Olympic champions dominated in all point-scoring elements with the most striking difference coming from their blocking effort – 16 kill blocks against only three for Bulgaria. Egonu authored five of those and added 22 kills in attack at a success rate of 54%. Outside hitter Alice Degradi put away 19 points, including two blocks and two of Italy’s four aces in the match. Her 22-year-old cross-court teammate Loveth Omoruyi finished with 12 points, while middle blocker Sarah Fahr added 10 points, including the match winner.
“I am really happy about the team and about the reaction we had. Bulgaria really played an amazing game and I am very happy about how we could stay there and win the game,” Egonu told VBTV after the match. “We are trying to grow game after game. The teams we are going to play against are really different. They defend a lot, so we need to be very patient…”
