Star player makes difference at Volleyball World Cup

The excitement in the stands is palpable as the ball heads towards Paola Egonu. Again and again. And the ball often ends up on the 23-year-old Italian striker diagonally this Saturday afternoon. With twenty smashes, Egonu excelled in the match for the bronze medal against the United States (3-0) at the Omnisportcentrum. Egonu scores a total of 25 points and she knows she can’t miss the Volleyball World Cup top scorer title anymore. It is not because of being according to many the best player in the world that the Italians did not become world champions.

Volleyball is an amazing team sport. All six players are close together in the nine-by-nine half. No one can give up, the ball can be yours at any time. Points earned are celebrated together, as each point for the opponent is counted together. Is there a sport where teammates so often give each other a two-handed high five, an encouraging slap, or a boosting punch during a game?

But volleyball is also a sport in which individual class makes the difference. This proves the top three in the World Cup, which has been played in the Netherlands and Poland for the past three weeks. All three teams on the podium have an outspoken star player. In the top 5 of the top scorer rankings are two of the best players in the world besides Egonu: Serbian Tijana Boskovic and Brazilian Gabriela ‘Gabi’ Guimaraes.

Boskovic and Gabi are the captains of the teams that will make Apeldoorn the volleyball capital of the world on Saturday evening and will thrill the 6,500 spectators with the first ball in the final. Serbia are defending champions and have won all eleven matches of this World Cup. Brazil only lost – in the group stage – to Japan, the team they escaped elimination against in the quarter-finals after leading 2-0.

Score points

Tijana Boskovic, 1.93m, plays diagonally as does the equally tall Egonu. His main task: to score points. She’s been doing it since she made her debut for the national team in 2014 and became Serbia’s top scorer in the world championship at the age of 17. Also this World Cup, she is the strongest Serbian striker, where her efficiency is particularly striking: almost 56%. Boskovic thus converts more than half of the balls she receives into score. In this regard, no one comes close to Boskovic.

Gabi, 1.80 meters, is a jack of all trades. As a passer-runner, she is much more than a top scorer and this is also evident from the various statistics in the tournament. Not only is Gabi high in the points standings, but she’s the top receiver and second in diggers, which means she’s also doing a good job defensively. Gabi made his debut for the national team in 2012, just after the golden period of Brazilian volleyball players, who became Olympic champions twice in a row. Bronze at the 2014 World Cup and silver at the Tokyo Games are the most important international awards for Gabi, who missed the previous World Cup due to a serious knee injury.

In the first set of the final, the difference between the two star players is minimal. Boskovic beats in six points, Gabi five. But with a score of 24-24, ‘The Boss’ gave Serbia the lead, after which the Brazilian number 10 hit the set point against a half-yard spike. It turns out to be the harbinger of a match that is decided remarkably quickly. Brazil can still hold out in the second set, but Boskovic’s nine points ultimately make the difference: 25-22.

In the third set, the Serbian captain continues to score and Gabi and Brazil feel more and more that they have no chance: 25-17. Serbia are undefeated champions, Boskovic is voted best diagonal striker and most valuable player, just like in 2018. „I like to play volleyball, and that’s itis pretty much all she has to say. Gabi wins a silver medal and a spot on the World Cup Dream Team.

For the other best player in the world, Paola Egonu, the World Cup ended in an unpleasant way. The top scorer is filmed by a spectator after the bronze medal win against the United States as she tells her coach that she has played her last match for the Italian national team at the moment. Her play during the tournament was criticized nationally, despite the 275 points she scored. Egonu, a daughter of Nigerian parents, even asks if she is Italian. A racist statement made during a tournament that promotes equality for all through the Equal Jersey campaign, of which Egonu is one of the faces.

It’s a painful end to the World Cup for Italy’s top scorer, as the Dutch women’s team’s tournament also came to an unpleasant end a week ago after missing out on the quarter-finals. Due to sixth place in the group, national coach Avital Selinger’s team came in twelfth place in the final standings. The gap with the world top is bigger than expected, sighed the Dutch internationals, none of them being out of category. Now that the World Cup is over, volleyball players of the level of Tijana Boskovic, Gabi and Paola Egonu will not be seen in the Netherlands for the time being.