Plan de Corones / Kronplatz, Italy, April 7, 2019. Russia won their second women’s gold on the FIVB Snow Volleyball World Tour, co-organised with the CEV, as once again they outplayed United States in the final, at Plan de Corones / Kronplatz. Last week’s sensation Argentina, bronze medallists at the Wagrain-Kleinarl stop, proved that this was no coincidence, claiming another bronze, this time on Italian snow.
For Olga Motrich, Anna Romashova and Olga Filina, who were on the Russian team playing in Austria last week, this is the second World Tour gold out of two participations. They also have several CEV European Tour medals to their names. Their fourth teammate Olga Kozhadey celebrated on the top of the podium at her rookie international appearance.
For the USA team, this was the second World Tour silver. They also won gold at their maiden event on the snow – the European Tour stop in Moscow. On all three occasions, they played with Karissa Cook, Emily Hartong, Katherine Spieler and Alexandra Wheeler on the squad.
Julieta Puntin, Cecilia Peralta, Maria Eugenia Tuliz and Maria Virginia Zonta, or the team of Argentina, a country that has never won any medals at the Winter Olympic Games, can proudly go back to South America with two unexpected, but well deserved winter sport bronze medals from the Snow Volleyball World Tour.
Russia, USA and Argentina on the women’s podium at Plan de Corones / Kronplatz
On the last day of main draw action in Italy, the Russians claimed three straight-set wins to triumph with the title. In the quarterfinals, they cruised to a 2-0 (15-7, 15-5) shutout of Czech Republic 2, and followed up with a 2-0 (15-13, 15-8) win over Japan in the semifinals. In the big final, USA put up quite a battle, but with towering Olga Motrich dominating at the net Russia stamped another 2-0 (15-13, 15-11) victory to take home the trophy. Aleksandar Boričić, CEV President and FIVB 2nd Executive Vice-President, presented the gold medals to the winners.
“Just like last week, I am very glad! I think this tournament was more difficult, as the teams were stronger than in the last tournament, which makes this victory more pleasant,” commented Olga Filina after the final.
To reach the finals, the Americans had to go through hard-fought wins - 2-0 (15-11, 16-14) over Poland in the quarterfinals and 2-1 (15-12, 10-15, 15-8) over Argentina in the semifinals.
The South Americans persevered through three tie-break sets on Sunday. They started off with a 2-1 (13-15, 15-13, 15-7) victory over Italy and, after losing to USA in the semis, faced Japan for the bronze. The two teams exchanged the first two sets, with Argentina dominating the first and Japan well in control of the second. The decider was a fierce battle, in which the Asians took the lead with some fantastic actions in defence, but made some unforced errors in the money time to let the 2-1 (15-12, 10-15, 15-13) victory slip away into the hands of their South American opponents.
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