Robinson porta gli Stati Uniti a un passo da Parigi 2024.

Defending champions the United States could be among the first national teams qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics as the Americans managed to extend their winning streak at the Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament, in Łódź, Poland, to five matches on Friday.

Following their 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 25-18) win over Italy on the last match of the day, the reigning Olympic champions are clear at the top of the standings in Pool C with their perfect campaign of five victories and 15 points.

• Watch all the matches of the Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament on VBTV.

With the best two teams in the pool securing a spot at next year’s Olympics, the Americans need only a win over hosts Poland on Saturday, at 17:30 local time (15:30 UTC), to get to six victories and get out of reach for Poles, Germans and Italians, who also remain in contention – the three European sides have four wins and one loss.

Veteran outside hitter Kelsey Robinson was one of the key players in the American triumph over the Italians. Besides scoring in kills (12), blocks (three) and aces (one) in her 16-point performance, the 31-year-old outside hitter also produced a match-high 18 digs, completing a true all-around performance.

Fellow Olympic champion Jordan Thompson led the American offense again, firing 24 points with 23 kills and one block. Outside hitter Kathryn Plummer also thrived on the 'super sub' role, coming off the bench during the second set to end the match as the team's third-best scorer with 11 points.

"We practice for this every day," Plummer said. "I felt really prepared and my teammates helped me out a lot. We know a lot of these Italian players from playing with or against them in club and I just think we came in very prepared and executed our game plan very well."

Da parte italiana, l'opposto Ekaterina Antropova, con 20 punti, e il capitano e battitore esterno Myriam Sylla, con 17, sono state le giocatrici più efficaci.

Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournaments: schedule and results

In un'altra partita che ha coinvolto due contendenti per i posti olimpici, la Polonia si è ripresa dalla sconfitta con la Thailandia per sconfiggere la Germania per 3-2 (20-25, 27-25, 25-21, 22-25, 15-12) e mantenere le speranze di qualificazione.

La battitrice esterna Martyna Czyrnianska, che aveva realizzato 18 punti contro le asiatiche, ha avuto un'altra prestazione eccellente alla sua prima partenza nel torneo, realizzando ben 27 punti (21 kills, quattro blocchi, due ace) contro le tedesche. Anche l'opposta Magdalena Stysiak è stata molto produttiva, con 22 punti (19 kills, tre blocchi).

La quinta giornata di gare a Łódź ha visto anche la partecipazione di squadre che non hanno più possibilità di qualificazione, con la Colombia che ha sconfitto la Corea per 3-2 (25-12, 14-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-9) e la Thailandia che ha spazzato via la Slovenia per 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-18).

Sabato, oltre alla partita tra americani e polacchi, i colombiani sfideranno gli sloveni alle 11:30 ora locale (09:30 UTC), i thailandesi incontreranno i coreani alle 14:30 ora locale (12:30 UTC) e gli italiani affronteranno i tedeschi alle 20:45 ora locale (18:45 UTC).

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