VNL champions beat Dominican Republic in the first women’s match of the Olympics

PARIS, France, July 28, 2024.- Italy showed the strong game that took them to win gold at the Volleyball Nations League 2024 and to the top of the FIVB World Rankings in their debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics and had no trouble beating the Dominican Republic 3-1 (25-19, 24-26 25-21, 25-18) on Sunday, in the first match of the women’s volleyball tournament.

Playing in front of a packed South Paris Arena 1 in the morning session, the Europeans got a head start in Pool C, collecting all three points in their first match in the tournament while also adding to their new World Rankings total of 398.88 points. Ready to look for their first points at the Paris 2024 Games in their next match, the Dominicans dropped just 0.7 World Ranking points and continue in 11th place.

After scoring just four points in the first set, Italian star opposite Paola Egonu found her rhythm during the match and left the court as the match's top scorer, with 25 points (21 kills, three aces, one block). Team captain Anna Danesi and outside hitter Myriam Sylla were also productive, with 11 and ten points, respectively.

Dominican opposite Gaila Gonzalez had an exciting scoring battle with Egonu and led her team with 21 points (20 kills, one block). Outside hitter Yonkaira Peña and middle blocker Jineiry Martinez also got to double digits with 12-point performances at the South Paris Arena 1.

"I thought that we played a good match, but we struggled to keep our rhythm and made way too many errors," Gonzalez reacted. "This is something we'll need to change to get the wins we need in the upcoming matches, even though we did a great job to win the second set coming from behind. But Italy are a very strong team, we managed to take a set from them and could have even pushed the match to the tie-breaker, so that gives us confidence and we hope to build from it."

The highest number of errors made by the Dominicans (38 to 18) proved too much as there was balance in the other scoring skills, with the Europeans leading in aces (five to three) and the Caribbean being more productive in blocks (13 to nine) and kills (50 to 47).

Displaying an efficient game at the net and making strong plays on defense, Italy took control of the first set, building an 8-5 lead with a big swing by Egonu. The Dominicans made a push, but the Italians were able to keep their rhythm and improved their advantage to 16-12 with a stop at the net. An ace by substitute Ekaterina Antropova sealed the 25-19 Italian victory in the set.

The second set had a similar start, with Italy in control, and an ace from captain Danesi got them a 5-2 early lead. A trickle ace by Brayelin Martinez leveled the score at 11 points, but Italy went on a three-point run to put things back where they were. In the final of the set, the Dominicans made a strong push, with Gonzalez scoring at an excellent rate, and counted on an offensive error by Egonu to take the set 26-24 and tie the match.

The Dominicans kept their good rhythm to start the third set and quickly got a two-point separation at 7-5. Italy found their best game and gained ground, taking control of the set at 15-13, with an ace by Egonu. Remaining ahead until the end, the Europeans triumphed 25-21 in the third set thanks to a powerful swing by their opposite.

Egonu continued on fire in the fourth set and served an ace to give Italy an early 6-2 lead. Another ace, this one from substitute Gaia Giovannini, increased their advantage to seven points at 10-3. The Dominicans kept fighting, but even subbing some starters off, Italy continued in control and confirmed their 25-18 win with a block by Sarah Fahr.

Paris 2024 – Match Schedule and Results

Following their debut, Dominicans will have four days until their next match in Paris as they  will get back on the court on Thursday when they play Türkiye at 9:00 local time (7:00 GMT).