Paris 2024: Last VNL champions Italy and Türkiye lead Pool C

The volleyball tournament of the Paris 2024 Olympics starts on Saturday, with the men, but the women will only get on the court at the South Paris Arena 1 on Sunday, when the first matches will be held.

Pool play will be the first phase of the tournament, with eight of the 12 teams entered moving forward to the elimination rounds. Three pools were formed ahead of the start of the event and, at the conclusion of the pool phase, all three pool winners and runners-up will advance to the quarterfinals, as well as the two best-ranked third-placed sides.

Pool C has two of the top teams in the event, Italy and Türkiye, which won the last three editions of the Volleyball Nations League. The other two pool components, the Dominican Republic and the Netherlands will need to bring their best game to advance to the elimination rounds.

Find out what to expect from each of the four national teams in Pool C:

Italy

The top team in the FIVB World Rankings, Italy have in Paris arguably their best opportunity to win their first-ever medal at the Olympics. The Italians have been among the top teams in the world after the Tokyo Games, winning two VNL titles (2022 and 2024), taking gold at the 2021 European Championship and bronze at the 2022 World Championship.

Hired at the end of 2023, head coach Julio Velasco has probably the strongest opposite duo in the Paris Games, with Paola Egonu and Ekaterina Antropova. Setter Alessia Orro, libero Monica De Gennaro, middle blocker Anna Danesi and outside hitter Myriam Sylla are other stars in the Italian roster.

Türkiye

Türkiye dropped to third place in the FIVB World Rankings after several months at the top, but the Sultans of the Net are still among the contenders to win gold in Paris. The Turkish had a spectacular 2023 season, winning gold at both the VNL and the European Championship – they recenlty also made it to the quarterfinals at the 2022 World Championship, finishing eighth.

Their highly successful 2023 season coincided with the arrivals of star opposite Melissa Vargas and top coach Daniele Santarelli. The Turkish have strong players at every position, with Elif Şahin and Cansu Özbay appearing at setter, Ebrar Karakurt and Hande Baladin as outside hitters, Eda Erdem and Zehra Güneş shining in the middle and Gizem Örge delivering at libero.

Paris 2024 – Match Schedule

Netherlands

The Netherlands are back in the Olympics after missing out on the last edition of the event. Ranked eighth in the world, the Dutch took bronze at last year’s European Championship. At the international level, they finished 12^th in the 2022 World Championship and were eighth in the VNL 2024.

Outside hitter Anne Buijs and opposite Celeste Plak are the only players with Olympic experience in the Dutch roster in Paris. Other athletes with big roles in the team led by head coach Felix Koslowski are setter Britt Bongaerts, outside hitter Nika Daalderop and middle blocker Juliet Lohuis.

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic arrive in Paris as the 11^th-best team in the FIVB World Rankings. Las Reinas del Caribe (The Queens of the Caribbean, in Spanish) made justice to their nickname lately, having great success in continental events with golds at the 2023 Pan American Games, the 2021 and 2023 NORCECA Championships and the 2022 Pan American Cup. At the international level, they were 11^th at the 2022 World Championship and finished ninth in the VNL in that same season.

The roster selected by longtime head coach Marcos Kwiek has nine players with Olympic experience, including setter Niverka Marte, outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz, middle blocker Lisvel Eve and libero Brenda Castillo, who are going to their third edition of the Games. Other key players for the Dominicans are the sisters Brayelin Martinez (outside hitter) and Jineiry Martinez (middle blocker) and outside hitter Yonkaira Peña.

Women’s Pool C Match Schedule

July 28
9:00 local time (7:00 GMT) - Italy vs. Dominican Republic

July 29
9:00 local time (7:00 GMT) – Türkiye vs. Netherlands

August 1
9:00 local time (7:00 GMT) – Türkiye vs. Dominican Republic
17:00 local time (15:00 GMT) – Italy vs. Netherlands

August 3
9:00 local time (7:00 GMT) – Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic

August 4
9:00 local time (7:00 GMT) – Italy vs. Türkiye

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