The Italian women's volleyball team achieved a perfect record in the group stage of the 2025 World Championship.

Italy is demonstrating its caliber as a leading candidate for the Women's Volleyball World Championship crown this year.

The Italian women's volleyball team closed the group stage with an undefeated record after a 3-1 victory (25-16; 25-16; 21-25; 25-18) over Belgium on the evening of August 26th, Vietnam time.

Before the match, both Italy and Belgium had already secured advancement with wins against Cuba and Slovakia. Nevertheless, both teams fielded their strongest lineups, determined to earn points to compete for the top spot in the group, aiming for an advantageous position in the round of 16.

However, beating Italy is an extremely tough task, even for top teams like Brazil, Poland, and Japan. Since coach Julio Velasco took charge, the "Azzurri" have become an unstoppable force.

From the very beginning of the first set, Italy showed dominance with an 8-2 scoring run. Belgium's efforts only managed to reduce the gap to a maximum of 5 points; they could not stop the scoring prowess of Paola Egonu and Sarah Fahr. The lead then extended to 9 points before the set ended.

A similar pattern occurred in the second set as Italy maintained control, not allowing Belgium any chance to cause an upset. After a tightly contested start, Italy surged ahead with a 10-1 run, creating nearly a double-digit lead and comfortably taking a 2-0 lead.

Belgium, led by Britt Herbots and opposite hitter Pauline Martin, played very well in the third set. Although Italy dominated most of the set, Herbots and her teammates showed resilience, closing the gap and ultimately overtaking Italy with a 5-point scoring streak in the final rally, securing a valuable set win and narrowing the score to 1-2.

However, in the fourth set, the usual order was restored. Italy dominated without making the mistakes seen in the previous set and comfortably maintained the large lead established early on, sealing the overall match victory 3-1.

Superstar Paola Egonu shone brightly with 28 points, leading the scoring for Italy and the entire match. Stella Nervini and Sarah Fahr were two other Italian players who scored over 10 points in this game. On the other side, Martin and Herbots scored 16 and 15 points respectively—too isolated to help Belgium cause an upset.

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