Alan Nine
Volleyball.it moved through the final day of the women’s Volleyball Nations League with three clear headlines: Italy finished on the podium after defeating China in the bronze-medal match, Turkey completed a comeback against Brazil to take the title in Macao, and the closing individual awards recognized both Melissa Vargas and Ekaterina Antropova. The news flow was concentrated and strongly international, with the last results of the VNL shaping the entire day.
International
Italy ended the VNL 2026 with the bronze medal by beating China 3-1 in the third-place match. Volleyball.it reported the set scores as 25-16, 23-25, 25-22, 25-13, with the match lasting 1 hour and 43 minutes. The site underlined that this is the fourth medal in the history of the Italian women’s team in the competition, a total that leaves the Azzurre second in the all-time roll of honor behind only Brazil.
The statistical edge came from Italy’s attacking output and its work at the net. According to Volleyball.it, the Azzurre finished with 65 winning attacks, 8 aces and 16 blocks. Ekaterina Antropova was the top scorer with 26 points, including 4 aces, while Sara Luisa Fahr added 13 points and Stella Nervini contributed 11. The report also highlighted the positive passing contribution of libero Eleonora Fersino, who posted 62% positive reception. Volleyball.it framed the result as an immediate response after the semifinal loss to Brazil, with Julio Velasco’s team able to reassert itself against the hosts and leave Macao with another international medal.
VNL Final
The title then went to Turkey, which overturned the match against Brazil and won the final 3-1. Volleyball.it listed the partial scores as 23-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-21 and noted that the final lasted 1 hour and 52 minutes in front of 4,000 spectators at the East Asian Games Dome. For Turkey, it was a second VNL title after the one won in 2023; for Brazil, it was a fifth defeat in a VNL final.
Melissa Vargas dominated the last act with 33 points, broken down by Volleyball.it into 27 attacks, 3 blocks and 3 aces. Turkey also received major support from Baladin with 19 points and Aydin with 15, while Brazil answered through Ana Cristina on 25 points, Rosamaria on 19 and Bergmann on 15. The article described a very balanced final in the direct fundamentals, with both teams producing 61 winning attacks and 7 aces, while Turkey held a narrow edge in blocks, 14 to 13. The decisive swing came in the final stages of the second and third sets, where Turkey turned the match after losing the opener.
Individual Awards
The end of the competition also brought the official individual honors. Volleyball.it reported that Melissa Vargas was named the tournament MVP after leading Turkey to the title. An Italian name also appeared among the award winners, with Ekaterina Antropova recognized as the competition’s best server at the end of the three preliminary weeks.
The rest of the list confirmed Kiera Van Ryk of Canada as both best scorer and best attacker, Julia Kudiess of Brazil as best blocker, Daria Sharhorodska of Ukraine as best setter, Juliette Gelin of France as best defender and Bojana Gocanin of Serbia as best receiver. Taken together, the final day on Volleyball.it closed the VNL cycle with Italy back on the podium, Turkey once again on top of the women’s field and Antropova among the players officially recognized at the end of the event.
