World no. 1 Italy vents ire on Czechia to regain winning ways in VNL 

Reigning VNL, Olympic, and World champion Italy returned to its winning form by frustrating Czechia, 25-18, 25-21, 25-22, as the Women's Volleyball Nations League (VNL) makes a Manila comeback on Wednesday at the PhilSports Arena.

World No. 1 Italy wasted no time imposing its will to bounce back from a narrow five-set loss to Brazil on June 8 at the opponent's home turf. That defeat halted Italy's impressive 39-game winning streak, but the straight-sets victory today sees the Italians improving to 4-1 while Czechia fell to 3-2.

Ekaterina Antropova, a 23-year-old and 6-foot-8 outside hitter, led Italy's balanced attack this time after pouring in 21 points anchored on 14 attacks, six aces, and one block while 24-year-old middle blocker Sarah Fahr churned out 13 markers.

"We're really happy to start a new week. We know that playing against Brazil is hard but we're really happy with the result. It's not fun losing but it's a great match to learn," Antropova, who was part of Italy's Olympic gold medal team, told reporters.

"Today, I think we showed a great start. Sometimes we had difficult moments in the game but we were able to save the team."

Earlier, world No. 7 USA also made quick work of Dominican Republic with a 25-20, 25-19, 25-12 victory behind Jordan Thompson, Dana Rettke, and Logan Eggleston as they improved to 4-1.

Thompson posted 15 points and 10 digs while Rettke and Eggleston each chipped in 10 markers.

"I think it wasn't the most fluid game for us, it wasn't always pretty but we what we do really well is just finding ways to grit through it and I think that's part of our DNA, being a gritty team," Thompson said.

—JKC, GMA News