Macau (China). The 2026 VNL Women's National Team ended with a bronze medal. Defeated in the semifinals by Brazil in a tiebreak, Julio Velasco's Italian team promptly bounced back by defeating hosts China 3-1 (25-16; 23-25; 25-22; 25-13) at the East Asian Games in Macau. It was a significant victory for the result achieved and for the determined response that came the day after this exceptional team's first real misstep in the last two years.
THE NEWS – For the final dance of VNL 2026, Velasco will once again use the same starting lineup as in Hong Kong and in the matches against the Netherlands and Brazil in Macau: Orro as setter, Antropova as opposite hitter, Sylla and Nervini as spikers, Danesi and Fahr as middle blockers, and Fersino as libero. The Italian team's match against China starts off with a bang: Antropova's power and Nervini's class and touch push Italy to an 8-2 lead. After a Chinese timeout, Italy continues to push hard with Antropova and Sylla for an even stronger set (12-3), easily closing the first set 25-16. The match quickly becomes very close in the second set, with China taking a 13-17 lead. Italy struggled in attack, Velasco played the Omoruyi card to give Sylla a break, and the number 21 hitter immediately put the scoresheet on the scoresheet with a powerful attack (15-18). Italy failed to turn the set around, and China tied the match with a partial score of 23-25. In the third set, Velasco gave Meli space in the middle and left Omoruyi on the wing, but the start, however, was all Chinese (1-4). The Italians responded with a 3-0 run from Antropova and Fahr, bringing the match back to parity (7-7). Fahr, Meli, Antropova and Nervini put Italy back in front (14-12). The score reached 17-17, then Fahr, Antropova and Omoruyi scored another break for the Italians (21-19) which Nervini and an error by Zhuang converted into 25-22 for Italy. In the fourth set the Italians started hammering again and took a 10-3 lead without stopping and closed the game with an eloquent 25-13.
THE SCOREBOARD: ITALY – CHINA 3-1 (25-16; 23-25; 25-22; 25-13)
ITALY: Sylla 6, Danesi 2, Antropova 23, Nervini 11, Fahr 13, Orro 5, Ferino (L), Egonu 1, Giovannini, Spirito, Omoruyi 7, Meli 7, Cambi. NE: Nwakalor. Coach: Velasco
CHINA: Tang 9, Wang Y. 11, Gong 10, Zhuang 14, Wang A. 7, Xie, Wang M. (L), Diao 3, Chen 1, Yang, Li 1, Guo, Feifan. NE: Zhang. All. Zhao
Referees: Yuliya Akulova (KAZ) and Ksenija Jurkovic (CRO)
Duration: 25', 29', 27',
Italy: a 8, sc 7, m 5, et 19.
China: a 4, bs 6, m 11, et 28.
