Türkiye retain European volleyball crown with five-set thriller against Italy

Türkiye's women's national volleyball team sealed back-to-back European championships on Sunday night, defeating Italy 3-2 in a dramatic CEV EuroVolley Women final that swung between the hosts and the reigning world and Olympic champions. The victory at Istanbul's packed arena marked the second consecutive continental crown for the Sultans of the Net, who recovered from a set down to dethrone the sport's current global standard-bearers in a five-set thriller that ended 16-25, 25-22, 12-25, 25-21, 15-10.

The triumph cemented Türkiye's status as the continent's dominant force and denied Italy — winners of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold and the 2022 World Championship — a first European title since 2009. The victory extended the hosts' unbeaten run in the tournament to nine matches across their back-to-back campaigns.

Early Italian momentum

Italy opened the match with commanding authority, racing to an 11-8 lead in the first set after a level start and extending their advantage to 18-9 before closing it out 25-16. The Azzurre carried that momentum into the second set, building a 12-6 lead behind a blistering early performance from opposite Paola Egonu, who had already accumulated 10 points and seemed poised to dominate the contest.

The hosts called a second timeout to regroup, with captain Eda Erdem and Cuban-born opposite Melissa Vargas sparking the revival as Türkiye clawed back to 12-10 and forced Italy to call their own timeout. The set tightened to 15-15 with both Vargas and Egonu locked on 13 points, but Türkiye seized the initiative late to take the frame 25-22 and level the match at one set apiece.

The tiebreak triumph

Italy reasserted control in the third set, storming to an 8-2 lead and never allowing the deficit to shrink below four points as they closed it out 25-12 to move within one set of the title. Türkiye responded emphatically in the fourth, establishing a 10-3 lead that Italy gradually eroded to 16-14 before the hosts steadied to win 25-21 and force a deciding tiebreak.

The fifth set remained tight through the early stages, tied at 4-4 before Türkiye pulled away to an 8-4 lead at the change of ends and extended their advantage to 12-7 before closing out the match 15-10, completing the 3-2 victory to retain the trophy they had won two years earlier in Belgrade. Vargas and Egonu finished as joint top scorers with 28 points each, underscoring the individual brilliance that defined the final, according to CEV statistics.