Team USA loses in straight sets vs. Italy for silver medal in Women's Volleyball at 2024 Olympics

Team USA has taken silver in women’s indoor volleyball at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This comes after losing the gold medal match against Italy on Sunday.

It was a rough end for Team USA at the Olympics, losing in straight sets, after a very good run to get to the gold medal game.

This comes after the USA won a close and emotional game against Brazil, one of the favorites these Olympics, in five sets. It was a Brazilian team that hadn’t lost a single set in the Olympics before running into the Americans. That came while the Italian team beat Türkiye in straight sets that match as well.

Italy had been dominant throughout the Paris Olympics. The Italians only dropped one set during the entirety of the Olympics. That came back in group play while they were still getting their feet under them in the Dominican Republic.

Prior to that, the USA had been battle-tested in this tournament. In two of the USA’s pool matches, they went to five sets. However, they had not lost at all during that time. Wins for the Americans came against Serbia, China, France, and Poland before running into Brazil in the semi-finals.

For the United States, it’s not all bad news after losing the gold medal match. Winning silver is still an excellent accomplishment for the team, even if it’s a disappointment in the immediate aftermath of the game.

In fact, with the silver, Team USA has moved into first all-time for the total number of medals won in women’s indoor volleyball at the Olympics with seven. That’s more than the Soviet Union, China, Japan, and Brazil. It also made five straight Olympics where the Americans have won a medal in women’s volleyball.

The silver medal for Team USA is also adding to the overall medal count for the country as a whole. With one day remaining in the Olympics, the United States is up to 125 total medals.

For Italy, this was their first medal of any kind at the Olympics in women’s indoor volleyball. On top of that, this was their first time going past the quarterfinals at the Olympics. It also makes them one of just seven countries to win a gold medal in this sport, tying them with the Americans at one gold medal all-time.

That one gold medal for Team USA came back in the Tokyo Olympics. It was a key moment in the last two decades of success the United States has had in the sport.