Paris Olympics: U.S. women's volleyball loses to dominant, history-making Italy team, takes silver

PARIS — Italy stormed to a historic women’s volleyball Olympic title here on the final day of the 2024 Games, leaving a valiant Team USA in its wake.

The Italians, who had not lost a single set since the opening round of pool play, won Sunday’s gold medal match 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-17) over the U.S.

It had been billed as a titanic clash between the world's top-ranked team (Italy) and the defending gold medalists (U.S.). But from the very first few points, it had an obvious winner. Italy went up 5-1 and 12-6, forcing U.S. coach Karch Kiraly to call two early timeouts. The Italians fed their star, Paola Egonu, who spiked and dinked the Americans to death with 11 first-set points.

They were superior, it seemed, in every aspect of the game, and also pulled away in set No. 2. They rose for forceful blocks. Italian flags waved in the crowd at a packed South Paris Arena, a temporary venue packed into a convention center, as the eventual outcome crystalized.

Prior to this weekend, Italy had never medaled in women’s volleyball at the Olympics. They are far from a traditional power. They had never even won an Olympic quarterfinal. The Americans, Italian captain Anna Danesi noted prior to the final, “are very used to playing matches like these, while we're still kind of new to them.”

But Italy had risen over the past few years. It medaled at world championships in 2022. After losing a set to the Dominican Republic in its Paris 2024 opener, it found its groove. A semifinal sweep of Turkey confirmed the program’s first Olympic medal — but business wasn’t finished.

“People are telling us we made history already,” outside hitter Caterina Bosetti said after the semi. “But we want to win gold.”

And they did, in dominant fashion. They took control of the third set with seven straight points to turn a 6-5 U.S. advantage into a commanding 12-6 lead. "I-ta-lia! I-ta-lia!" chants echoed around the arena, and crescendoed as match point neared.

The Americans battled; but they couldn’t match Italy’s consistency, athleticism or guile. And they settled for silver.