In another powerful performance, the United States triumphed over Italy 3-1 (25-14, 25-11, 23-25, 25-10) at the WPV Women’s Super 6 on Wednesday at Parc des Sports de Vandoeuvre in Nancy, France.
From the outset, the USA team demonstrated their dominance, with Monique Matthews opening the scoring and fortifying the net defence, quickly propelling the USA to a 3-1 lead. Matthews continued her offensive prowess with a quick attack from the middle, while Kaleo Kanahele’s strong right-side attack extended the lead to 5-2. Despite a valiant effort by Italy’s Sara Cirelli to cut the deficit to 11-5, USA’s relentless attack assault kept them in control.
In the succeeding play, Matthews spearheaded another offensive run, giving USA a comfortable 14-6 lead. Nicole Nieves maintained the momentum with a powerful left-flank swing, pushing the score to 16-8. Although Francesca Bosio briefly boosted Italy’s points to 16-11, Nieves struck again from the middle, extending the lead to 19-11. A collaborative block by Nieves and Kanahele against Raffaela Battaglia, followed by Raelene Elam’s hard hit, brought the score to 23-14. Lora Webster’s smart attack placement sealed the first set at 25-14.
The second set saw the USA continue their dominance, quickly establishing a 12-6 lead. An exchange of service errors put the score at 13-7, but Matthews’ powerful serves expanded USA’s edge to 18-9. USA’s unyielding offence further stifled Italy, culminating in a 25-11 set win.
Italy showed resilience in the third set, executing their offense more effectively and tying the score at 9-all before taking a 12-10 lead. Capitalising on USA’s errors, Italy maintained their momentum to narrowly clinch the set 25-23.
However, USA rebounded emphatically in the fourth set, surging to an 8-1 lead that forced Italy to call a timeout. USA’s overwhelming dominance was evident as they limited Italy to just one point, expanding their lead to 16-1. Even with lineup changes, USA maintained control and led 19-4. Heather Erickson’s down-the-line spike brought the USA to match point at 24-7, and a service error by Italy sealed the set and match at 25-10.
