The 23-year-old opposite comes up big for the defending champions with 25 points in their debut in Antalya
Defending Volleyball Nations League champions Italy were pushed to their limits in their debut in the 2023 edition of the tournament, but fought hard to secure a five-set victory over Thailand on Tuesday, in Antalya, Türkiye, and start their title defense on the right foot.
The second-best team in the FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Ranking, Italy were strongly challenged by the recently-crowned Southeast Asian Games champions, but were better in the decisive moments and counted on a stellar performance from opposite Sylvia Nwakalor to win their Pool 1 encounter in the tie-breaker (24-26, 25-17, 27-29, 30-28, 15-11) at the Antalya Sports Hall.
One of just three players who were in the squad that played in last year’s VNL gold medal match to be a part of the Italian roster in their 2023 debut, the 23-year-old Nwakalor carried the Italian offense against Thailand, producing impressive 25 points. The opposite was not only lethal offensively, with 19 kills, but also tallied a match-high five blocks to go with one ace.
Outside hitter Loveth Omoruyi, 20, also had a strong performance against the Asians, contributing with 22 points (16 kills, four blocks, two aces) for the Italian victory.
“The most important thing today was to remain confident and don’t lose patience because we knew Thailand were very good on defense,” Omoruyi said after the match. “It was very important for us to not relax and to keep fighting. This was a very important match for us, so we knew we had to give everything to overcome their defense. We knew that if we lost focus for just a little bit, the match could be over for us.
“We’re happy with our debut, but we know we can still play much better and hopefully we can build from this performance.”
The Italians overcame the Thai in the decisive moments of their opening match in Antalya
Middle blocker Anna Danesi, who registered 12 points (nine kills, three blocks), and outside hitter Alice Degradi, who added another ten (seven kills, one block, two aces), were the other…
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