Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 12, 2016 – In a thrilling five-set match, Paola Egonu stood up to lead Italy in a win over Japan (25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 25-27, 15-8) in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. The talented Italian wing spiker shone, putting 30 points on the board to give her team a second win in as many days.
The two wins this weekend mark Italy's first back-to-back FIVB World Grand Prix victories since last year's Final Six tournament.
Tied in the table with one win and one loss in two matches this weekend, both teams came out on the court determined to snatch their second win of this round. Japan started out well with good performances from Yuki Ishii and Riho Otake putting pressure on Italy. After the second technical time-out, the European side finally found their rhythm as Valentina Diouf's imposing service took her team to a 25-20 victory.
Motivated by the opening-set win, Italy started the second part in a dominant fashion. Ofelia Malinov kept passing the ball to Egonu as the main source of points. The seventeen-year-old Italian sensation regularly smashed the ball above the hands of the Japanese block. In a fitting fashion, it was Egonu who closed out the set at 25-20.
The third set started with the Japanese determined to mount a comeback. The Asian side improved their service game considerably, which in turn allowed them to become competitive. They also managed to pick up their defensive game and took the set, 25-23.
The fourth part was mostly an exchange of fire between Egonu and Koga. At one point Japan saved a match point to prevail in the set, 27-25, and force a tiebreak.
The deciding set saw Diouf once again stepping up to help the youngster Egonu. The Italian pair dominated the net to lead their team to a comfortable 15-8 win.
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