Italy continue at the top with third VNL title

FIVB World Ranking leaders Italy continue to dominate the international women’s volleyball scene and secured on Sunday their third-straight major title, taking gold in the Volleyball Nations League 2025 in Łódź, Poland.

The reigning Olympic champions, the Italians triumphed in the tournament for the third time following victories in 2022 and 2024 with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-22) comeback win over Brazil in front of a packed Atlas Arena in the final.

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Now undefeated in their last 29 international matches, the Europeans rose to the top of the World Rankings after their victories at the VNL and the Paris Olympics in 2024 and confirmed their status as the number one team in the world with a flawless campaign in the VNL 2025, which saw them secure the title with 15 victories and just eight sets lost.

“The gold medal match was very difficult and Brazil never gave up,” head coach Julio Velasco said. “We didn’t play our best volleyball, but we fought the entire time and our bench players were able to come in and make a difference for us. I’m very proud of the group. This is a special group of players, which has a lot of talent, but also a great mentality and the willingness to work hard every day.”

The Italians are now just the second national team to have won the women’s VNL in three different seasons, joining the United States, which triumphed in 2018, 2019 and 2021 – Türkiye were the winners in 2023. Brazil, on the other hand, are the only ones to have won four medals, having taken silver in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2025.

Eight players were present in all three Italian VNL titles – setter Alessia Orro, opposite Paola Egonu, outside hitters Myriam Sylla, Alice Degradi and Loveth Omoruyi, middle blocker Anna Danesi and liberos Monica De Gennaro and Eleonora Fersino.

Opposite Ekaterina Antropova had a tremendous performance off the bench in the gold medal match, coming in to replace Paris Olympics MVP Egonu and producing an impressive 18 points (13 kills, four blocks, one ace). Sylla played her best match in the VNL 2025 against the Brazilians and contributed 16 points, with 13 kills and three blocks.

To take the title, the Italians also had to overcome an injury to outside hitter Alice Degradi, who sustained what appears to be a left ankle problem during the second set. She was replaced by 21-year-old Stella Nervini, who contributed seven points, all in kills, in the victory.

“I love this team,” Sylla reacted. “We’re very happy and worked together to get here. I think that today we showed what the word ‘team’ means for us. If someone is down or gets injured, we have other people ready to come in and bring their best.”

On the Brazilian side, team captain Gabriela ‘Gabi’ Guimarães was the most productive, with 15 points (ten kills, four blocks, one ace). Middle blocker Julia Kudiess also stood out, getting seven kills and five blocks to deliver a 12-point performance in the gold medal match.

“I think they showed the quality of their squad today,” Gabi said. “We started well and were able to put them in difficult situations, but our level dropped after the first set. And to beat a team like Italy, just playing well isn’t enough. I thought we saw today that we can beat them, but also that to do it, we need to be consistent and to take advantage of the opportunities we have. But I thought it was a great VNL for us. The team did very well and it was great to see some younger players stepping up and taking big roles with the team.”

The Italians were superior in every aspect of the game and outscored their opponents in kills (58 to 45), blocks (14 to 12) and aces (three to two). The Europeans, however, made more mistakes than the Brazilians, giving up 28 points to the South Americans’ 22.

Volleyball Nations League 2025: full schedule and results

Italians and Brazilians will also be among the favorites to win gold at the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship, which is going to be held in Thailand from August 22 to September 7.

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