SHOTLIST:

LODZ, POLAND (JULY 26, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MIRIAM SYLLA, ITALIAN WOMEN'S NATIONAL VOLLEYBALL TEAM PLAYER, SAYING:

"We improved from the start of the game. We knew they were a strong team. We saw them play against China, and they showed what they could do. Playing here is not easy. We prepare mentally we don't think about what will happen. We just play volleyball, we are fine and we follow what our coach says."


2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) EKATERINE ANTROPOVA, ITALIAN WOMEN'S NATIONAL VOLLEYBALL TEAM PLAYER, SAYING:

"We're very excited to reach, another year, the VNL finals and now we're going to first of all be happy for the win and then we'll See who our rival is so we'll see. well we'll see first of all who we're going to play against and then we don't think about what happened in the past I think in volleyball and in the sport that's whatever comes next is the most important and so we'll take one match at a time as we always did. It's absolutely amazing. Actually this year we played against the home teams so I guess we kind of getting used to it but I love playing in front of the crowd that is passionate about volleyball. So we're happy."

3. ITALIAN AND POLISH PLAYERS HUGGING/ TALKING TO EACH OTHER (TWO SHOTS) LODZ, POLAND - JULY 26: Players of the Italy women's national volleyball team, Miriam Sylla and Ekaterine Antropova spoke to Anadolu reporter after the semifinal match in the final stage held in the city of Lodz, Poland, where Italy defeated Poland 3-0 to advance to the final on Saturday, July 26.

Sylla and Ekaterine said, that Poland is a strong team but they are happy to have won.

Sylla, noting that they played by improving themselves from the beginning of the match, said, "We knew Poland was a strong team. We saw them play against China, and they showed what they could do. Playing here is not easy."

The experienced spiker emphasized that they are not thinking about what will happen in tomorrow’s final match. She said, "We prepare mentally we don't think about what will happen. We just play volleyball, we are fine and we follow what our coach says."

Antropova expressed that she is very happy to have reached the final again in the VNL and said that f​irst, they will enjoy the victory, then after the Brazil-Japan match to be played in the evening, they will see who our opponent in the final will be.

"We don't think about what happened in the past I think in volleyball and in the sport that's whatever comes next is the most important."

Antropova stated that this season, they played against the host team several times with such a strong crowd in the Nations League.

The Volleyball Nations League (VNL) is an annual international volleyball competition organized by the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB). It features the world’s top men’s and women’s national teams competing in a league format across multiple countries. The VNL aims to promote high-level volleyball and increase the sport’s global popularity.

Writing by Ayse Elif Erdis