Antropova steps up and helps Italy advance in Paris

FIVB World Ranking leaders Italy barely used star opposite Paola Egonu in their second match in the women’s volleyball tournament of the Paris 2024 Olympics on Thursday, but that wasn’t a problem as Ekaterina Antropova stepped up and led the team to victory against the Netherlands, pushing the Italians to the quarterfinals.

Playing in front of a massive and engaged crowd at the South Paris Arena 1, the Italians overcame some first-set inconsistency to find their form and secure their first three-set victory in the Games, beating the Dutch 3-0 (29-27, 25-18, 25-19).

With the win, Italy have now six points and are guaranteed in the quarterfinals, as well as second-placed Türkiye, who have five – the teams will meet in the last round of pool play, on Sunday, at 9:00 local time (7:00 GMT). With one point, the Netherlands will need a 3-0 or 3-1 win over the Dominican Republic on Saturday, also at 9:00 local time (7:00 GMT), to advance to the quarterfinals and one of the two best third-placed teams.

Used off the bench in two sets in the Italian four-set victory over the Dominican Republic in their opening match on Sunday, the 21-year-old Antropova was moved into the team’s starting lineup for the match against the Dutch and delivered a spectacular 33-point performance, with 30 kills, two blocks and one ace.

"Playing at the Olympics is different, there's a lot of emotions, for the good and for the bad," she said. "I'm grateful to be here and as long as we win, I'm happy. I know that I still have a lot to prove, so I'm happy to have the opportunity to help my team win matches. Our connection with the middles was pretty strong today and that helped with the fact that I didn't have to face a triple block all the time. I think that we made more mistakes than we should have in the first set, but once we fixed that, we did well. Türkiye are a great team, but we know we can show a good game against them and we'll prepare to do that."

Outside hitters Myriam Sylla and Gaia Giovannini came next for the Italians with 11 and seven points, respectively. The Volleyball Nations League champions led their opponents in kills (58 to 41) and blocks (seven to four), but the Netherlands did better from the service line, with five aces to one.

On the Dutch side, captain Nika Dalderoop (13 points), opposite Celeste Plak (ten), middle blocker Indy Baijens (ten) and outside hitter Jolien Knollema (eight) split the scoring load almost evenly.

"We're obviously disappointed as I think we could have gotten more out of this match, especially the first set," Dalderoop remarked. "After the first set, we started making more errors and they started pushing more from the service line, which made it more difficult for us to score on them. Now we'll recover and focus on the Dominican Republic. Making it to the quarterfinals would be a big achievement for us. We are in a very difficult pool and almost our entire squad is competing at the Olympics for the first time, but we'll do everything we can to win that match."

China also move forward

China were another team to confirm their presence in the Paris 2024 quarterfinals on Thursday after they defeated hosts France 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-19) in the last match of the day at the South Paris Arena 1.

With five points, the Asians moved to first place in Pool A and are guaranteed in the quarterfinals, alongside second-placed Serbia, who have four and will be their opponents at the conclusion of pool play, on Sunday, at 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT). In third place with three points, the United States are well-positioned to qualify, which they can do in their match against pointless France, on Sunday, at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT).

Outside hitter Li Yingying was China's main scorer in the match with 14 points (12 kills, one block, one ace), followed by middle blocker Wang Yuanyan (13), outside hitter Zhu Ting (12) and opposite Gong Xiangyu (ten).

France got ten points (seven kills, three blocks) from opposite Lucille Gicquel and eight from outside hitter Heléna Cazaute and middle blocker Amandha Sylves.

Paris 2024 – Match Schedule and Results

Earlier during the day, Türkiye came from behind to beat the Dominican Republic in four sets in Pool C, while Brazil dominated Japan to a straight-set win in Pool B.

Two matches on Saturday

Friday's schedule in Paris will be entirely filled with men's matches, with the women returning to action on Saturday, with two matches - the Netherlands vs. the Dominican Republic, at 9:00 local time (7:00 GMT), and Japan vs. Kenya, at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT).

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