PARIS – The defense of an Olympic championship ended for the U.S. women’s volleyball team with a straight-set loss to top-ranked Italy on Sunday afternoon before a raucous crowd at South Paris Arena. The silver medal was the seventh Olympic medal for the U.S., more than any country in indoor volleyball. A fifth straight medal is the longest streak in U.S. indoor volleyball history.
“I’m just honored,” said middle blocker Haleigh Washington. “It feels more like luck than anything else. To be on the gold medal team and now to be a part of the most winning program in indoor women’s volleyball, that’s so sick. I’m just honored and blessed to have been a part of it. I think it’s a little bit of luck when it comes to timing, and determination to not quit when the going gets tough.”
Both teams were chasing history on Sunday afternoon. Appearing in their fifth gold medal match, the U.S. hoped to become the first program to earn back-to-back golds since Brazil in 2008 and 2012. Italy, the number one ranked team in the world coming into Paris, hoped to do what their competitors did three years ago by bringing home their country’s first gold medal in indoor volleyball.
“We didn’t have enough answers for Italy today,” said head coach Karch Kiraly. “They were just too good. They were clearly the class of this tournament. My hat’s off to them as the deserving and well-earned gold medalists.”
The Italians topped the U.S., 25-18, 25-20, 25-17. Despite the best efforts of the defending champions, Italy continued to find open space throughout the match to overtake them offensively. The Americans struggled to manage Italy’s Paola Ogechi Egonu, who racked up 22 points and 18 kills. Jordan Thompson led the U.S. in points with eight while Avery Skinner recorded the most kills with seven. The Americans were held without a block, a first in this tournament, while Italy notched 11.
“That’s a sign that we weren’t doing a good job on blocking defense,” said Kiraly. “From that standpoint, its disappointing. But again, (silver) is a tremendous accomplishment. It is really, really difficult to win medals consistently at the Olympics, and the USA women have done that. … five medals in a row is impressive.”