Antropova shines with 34-point performance against Thailand

When young players are called up to their country’s national team for the first time, it’s expected that they will have time to settle and get comfortable before they are given major roles with the squad.

Ekaterina Antropova wasn’t afforded that luxury as the 20-year-old opposite joined Italy just ahead of the Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament and was tasked with replacing the team’s main star in the last years and one of the best players in the world right now in Paola Egonu, who didn’t make the list of head coach Davide Mazzanti.

• Watch all the matches of the Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament on **VBTV.**

Antropova had displayed solid performances in the first two Italian matches in Łódź, Poland, in Pool C, leading the team’s scoring efforts against Korea and Slovenia, but she took it to another level on Tuesday, when she delivered 34 points as the Europeans topped Thailand 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-22, 25-18) and remained undefeated in the tournament.

The young opposite registered 25 kills, five aces and four blocks in an amazing all-around performance and became the first player to overcome 30 points in a single match in the event so far. The outstanding performance moved Antropova up to second place in the scorer’s table with 63 points, ten behind Dominican outside hitter Brayelin Martínez.

“I didn’t know I had scored that many points until I left the court,” she told Volleyball World. “I’m happy about my performance, but even happier about the team’s win because it wasn’t easy. I was very excited to play Thailand for the first time after watching them so many times on VBTV and I knew they were a really good team. It was great that we could win 3-1 and avoid the tie-breaker.”

Born in Iceland to Russian parents, Antropova has been playing for clubs in Italy since 2020 and recently acquired Italian citizenship, becoming eligible to represent the country’s national team. The 2.02m-tall player made her debut a few weeks ago at the CEV European Championship, where she also led the Italian offense, but she knows that the stakes are much higher this week in Łódź with two Olympic spots on the line.

“This is an amazing tournament,” she reacted. “Every time we get to the stadium, I see the ‘Road to Paris’ signs and the Olympic rings and that really gets me hyped up to go on the court and play. I think we’re doing a great job. The schedule is tough and we still have some difficult matches to play, but our staff is doing a very good job in terms of helping us recover and keeping us in shape.”

Italy also counted on 14 points from middle blocker Anna Danesi and 12 from outside hitter Elena Pietrini to beat Thailand on Tuesday. On the Asian side, opposite Wipawee Srithong led the way with 13 points.

Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournaments: schedule and results

The Italians will be back on the court on Wednesday, at 11:30 local time (09:30 UTC), to face Colombia in their fourth match in Pool C.

Earlier on Tuesday in Łódź, Germany pulled off a dramatic 3-2 (25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 22-25, 15-7) victory over Korea to also remain undefeated with three victories. Outside hitters Lena Stigrot and Lina Alsmeier contributed 20 and 18 points, respectively.

Hosts Poland also kept their perfect record, topping Colombia 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-13). Polish opposite Magdalena Stysiak topped all scorers with 19 points, followed by Colombian opposite Dayana Segovia, who produced 12 for the South Americans.

The final match of the day had Olympic champions the United States prevailing over Slovenia 3-1 (25-13, 25-13, 20-25, 25-13). Opposite Annie Drews and middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu tallied 12 points each while Slovenian outside hitter Mija Šiftar produced a match-high 14 for the Europeans.

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