Ukraine produced one of their best performances of the Volleyball Nations League campaign, sweeping Italy 3-0 in Pool 6 action at Ljubljana’s Stožice Arena.
The Ukrainians claimed a convincing 25-23, 25-19, 25-16 victory to hand the Azzurri their second defeat of the week.
The opening set was tightly contested, but Ukraine held composure in the closing stages. Captain Oleh Plotnytskyi produced the decisive attack to seal the set after Italy had briefly fought back to take the lead midway through.
Ukraine took firm control from there. An explosive start to the second set allowed Raúl Lozano’s side to dictate the tempo, with Italy unable to recover despite reducing the deficit on several occasions. The momentum carried into the third set, where Ukraine remained in command throughout before comfortably closing out the match.
Opposite hitter Vasyl Tupchii led all scorers with 16 points, while Oleh Plotnytskyi added 15 and Dmytro Yanchuk chipped in with 13. Mattia Bottolo was Italy’s top scorer with 11 points.
Result
Volleyball Nations League – Pool 6
Ukraine 3-0 Italy (25-23, 25-19, 25-16)
