US women's volleyball settles for silver after being swept by Italy in Olympics final

PARIS – The United States women’s volleyball team took the court Sunday for the gold medal match of the 2024 Paris Olympics against Italy to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

The “beast under their bed” turned out to be Italy, who swept the Americans (25-18, 25-20, 25-17) in a match that lasted 81 minutes to deny the USA a second consecutive gold medal.

Italy controlled the proceedings immediately and led 6-1 in the first set. The second was more tightly contested but the Italians pulled away during the middle portions of the frame. And in the third, the U.S. found itself down early once again. Two aces to make it 12-6 provided the death knell. Italy had the momentum, and the decidedly pro-Italian crowd certainly helped.

“It-a-lia! It-a-lia!” they chanted.

When Jordan Thompson's strike landed out of bounds, the team wearing blue (Italy) collapsed on the floor in a sea of hugs and lifted libero Monica de Gennaro in the air.

Italy’s opposite hitter Paola Egonu supplied the bulk of her team’s attack, as she went off for 22 kills and was by far the best player on the court.

The USA struggled to negotiate Italy’s block in the middle, aside from Thompson, who finished with a team-best eight kills. Lefty outside hitter Avery Skinner had seven.

Italy finished with seven aces. Five came in the third set.

These Games had not been the most dominant run for the U.S. despite the silver medal. The Americans dropped their first match of the tournament to China, went five sets the next match against Serbia and battled Brazil in a back-and-forth five-setter during the semifinals Thursday.

Italy, meanwhile, lost one set in its opening match against the Dominican Republic and then won 15 consecutive sets on the way to gold.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US women's volleyball settles for silver after being swept by Italy in Olympics final