Italy’s women’s volleyball team is now just one win away from their first Olympic medal after defeating Serbia in the quarterfinals of the Paris 2024 Games. This victory marks the first time Italy has advanced to the semifinals in the history of the tournament.
The Italians, who recently won the Volleyball Nations League 2024, showed a strong performance against the world champions. They recovered from a shaky start to win in straight sets: 3-0 (26-24, 25-20, 25-20). This win comes as Italy competes in the Olympics for the seventh time. They had previously been stopped in the quarterfinals in four out of six attempts.
Italy will now face European champions Türkiye in the semifinals on Thursday at 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT). Brazil and the United States will play in the other semifinal earlier that day at 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT). Italy had previously defeated Türkiye in pool play in Paris.
Setter Alessia Orro expressed the team’s excitement about reaching the semifinals for the first time. “It’s a big emotion for all of us, but now we have to think about the match that’s ahead of us. Türkiye will be super motivated and determined to win, so we’ll need to be ready to fight until the last point. We’re getting better with every match, but I still believe there’s room for us to improve,” Orro said.
With this victory, Italy remains the top team in the FIVB World Ranking with 419.62 points. A loss would have dropped them below Brazil. Serbia, now in tenth place, dropped two spots with 280.42 points.
The match featured a notable showdown between high-scoring opposites Paola Egonu and Tijana Bošković, each scoring 19 points. Egonu had 17 kills, one block, and one ace, while Bošković had 18 kills and one ace.
Italy also benefited from seven points by outside hitter Caterina Bosetti and six points each from middle blockers Sarah Fahr and Anna Danesi, as well as outside hitter Myriam Sylla. “We played a very good match as a team,” Sylla said. “Maybe in some moments we weren’t playing our best volleyball, but we stuck together and pushed through it. Serbia started really aggressive, wanting to impose their game, and coming back against them is not easy. But we did a great job, supporting each other the entire time.”
For Serbia, outside hitters Bianka Buša and Aleksandra Uzelac added eight and seven points, respectively. Serbian captain Maja Ognjenović announced her retirement from the national team after the match, marking the end of a 20-year career on her 40th birthday. “It has been a long journey for me,” Ognjenović said. “There have been different emotions, lots of ups and downs, and some unforgettable moments. It has been a part of my life that I’ve really liked, but now it is time for something different.”
Serbia’s higher number of errors (25 to 16) proved costly, despite scoring more points in kills (42 to 39). Italy had three more blocks (seven to two) and one more ace (five to four).
Men’s Semifinals on Wednesday
The women’s semifinalists will have a day to prepare for their next matches, while the men take the court at South Paris Arena 1 on Wednesday. Poland will face the United States at 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT), and hosts France will play against Italy at 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT).
