Without losing a single game along the way, Italy triumphed with the title and the gold medals of the FIVB Volleyball U20 Women’s World Championship in the Netherlands and Belgium. In Sunday’s final in Rotterdam, they shut out Serbia to top the podium. Russia celebrated with the bronze after mounting a furious comeback from two sets down in the third place match.

In the final match, Italy dominated on all counts in the first two sets. The third set was a close call as Serbia improved their defence, with libero Bojana Gocanin showing some spectacular saves to keep the suspense alive until the last referee whistle. Serbia saved two match points before Italy finished it off mercilessly at 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-23).