Skinners lead USA to first World Championship victory

Rookies Slovenia fought hard, but volleyball powerhouse the United States managed to start their campaign at the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship with a victory on Friday in Nakhon Ratchasima.

The Europeans competed for three sets, but the Americans counted on strong performances from the Skinner sisters Avery and Madison to triumph 3-1 (25-23, 17-25, 25-22, 25-14) and secure their first victory in Pool D in Thailand.

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Playing together on their country’s national team for a second season, the Skinners combined to produce as many as 28 points in the American victory, with outside hitter Avery leading the team with 15 (14 kills, one ace) and opposite Madisen adding another 13 (ten kills, two aces, one block). Outside hitter Sarah Franklin contributed ten, with nine kills and one block.

“We know we’re going to need to frontload this entire tournament because every team is going to give their best against us,” team captain and setter Jordyn Poulter said. “Slovenia started really strong and took us the second set, but I’m proud of the team effort today. Everyone helped and made an impact. It’s going to be a grind every night here, and we will need everyone to win matches.”

Slovenia had the top scorer in their first-ever World Championship match as 22-year-old outside hitter Fatoumatta Sillah left the court with 20 points, produced with 18 kills, one block and one ace. Middle blocker Nika Milošič added 13 and opposite Evá Zatkovič registered 12.

“I just tried to focus 100% on the court and help the team the best I could,” Sillah remarked. “For the next matches, I just think we need to be more patient with our decisions because some of our decisions today were not the best. But we’ll keep fighting.”

The higher number of Slovenian errors (30 to 17) was critical in the American victory, as while the USA got more points in kills (53 to 50), the Europeans made up for it with stronger blocking (ten to five) and serving (seven to four).

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

The action in Pool D started earlier on Friday, with Argentina coming from behind to beat Czechia 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-17, 26-24). On Sunday, the Europeans will try to bounce back, with Slovenians and Czechs meeting at 16:00 local time (9:00 GMT), while Americans and Argentineans will try to continue undefeated, going at each other at 19:30 local time (12:30 GMT).

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