Italy sweep Poland on their way to the semifinals

FIVB World Ranking leaders Italy are set to make their fourth-straight semifinal appearance at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship after they overcame continental rivals Poland in the second quarterfinal of the 2025 edition of the tournament.

Now undefeated in their last 34 matches, the reigning Olympic champions were vastly superior in the match held on Wednesday in Bangkok and eliminated the Polish with a solid 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-18) victory to earn their spot among the four best teams in the tournament.

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Now the Italians, who won gold at the World Championship in 2002, silver in 2018 and bronze in 2022, wait for Thursday’s match between Brazil and France, scheduled for 17:00 local time (10:00 GMT), to know their opponents in the semifinals, which are going to be held on Saturday in the Thai capital.

Star opposite Paola Egonu was a force at the net for the Italians, leading the team’s offense with 20 points (19 kills, one block). Middle blocker Sarah Fahr also made solid contributions to the team’s victory, adding 12 points, with eight kills and four blocks.

“We definitely didn’t expect to win like this,” Italian captain Anna Danesi revealed. “We expected a different match, but we managed to remain focused during the entire time and played every point as a team, so I couldn’t be any happier. All summer we’ve been taking it one point at a time, always trying to play as if the scoreboard was 0-0, and we want to continue this way.”

On the Polish side, opposite Magdalena Stysiak was the most productive, delivering a team-high 15 points (12 kills, three blocks). Inserted into the team’s starting lineup, outside hitter Paulina Damaske tallied nine, with seven kills and two blocks.

“It’s been an amazing journey for us,” team captain and middle blocker Agnieszka Korneluk said. “We did our best tonight, but they are the Olympic champions and played like that, so they deserve all the credit. I think the second set was crucial. We made too many errors and against a team like this, we just couldn’t have done it.”

Making only 11 errors to Poland’s 19 was one of the key factors in the Italian victory. The Olympic champions also dominated in kills (48 to 37) and blocks (eight to seven), and won the match without firing a single ace – Poland had one.

2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship: full schedule and results

Earlier on Wednesday, Japan earned their spot in the semifinals in dramatic fashion, taking down the Netherlands with a 3-2 (20-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12) victory. The Asians will face the winners of the match between the United States and Türkiye, which will the quarterfinal round, on Thursday, at 20:30 (13:30 GMT).

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