Paola Egonu Rewrites World Championship Record Books with 45-Point Day

2018 FIVB WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – SEMIFINALS

• October 19, 2018
• Yokohama Arena; Yokohama, Japan (Capacity 12,000)
• FIVB Rankings: #1 China, #3 Serbia, #7 Italy, #8 Netherlands
• Serbia/Netherlands Preview; China/Italy Preview
• Schedule/Results

Italy’s Paola Egonu has been a boiling pot of offensive water, waiting to bubble over, and on Friday evening in Yokahama, in Italy’s 3-2 semi-finals win over China, Egonu did just that.

• Full Match Recap

Her 45 points were not only a World Championship Record, but the output was 5 points better than the old record of 40, set by Yelena Pavlova of Kazakhstan at the 2006 tournament. That’s a 12.5% improvement on the old record in the 2nd-biggest volleyball tournament in the world, in the semi-finals, and against the Olympic Champions.

Egonu’s incredible stat line:

• 39/88 hitting (44.3%)
• 16 hitting errors (.261 efficiency)
• 1 block
• 5 aces/20 attempts (6 service errors)
• 3 digs

Egonu has now bullied her way into the conversation, even as just a teenager, for the best offensive player in the world. She has the advantage that Italy has been able to protect her from service receipt (she had 0 receptions on Friday), which leaves her free to focus on her duties at the net.

She took 88 out of her team’s 169 shots, which is 52%. By comparison, for China, Zhu Ting, the Olympic MVP, took just 35% of her team’s shots.

Now she, and Italy, will face off against Serbia in the gold medal match. Serbia has two offensive powerhouses, Tijana Boskovic and Brankica Mihajlovic, to throw at Italy. Not that Italy’s 2nd, Myriam Sylla, was a slouch on Friday: she hit 21/41 in a performance that on any other day would’ve taken a lot of headlines.

FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championships, 30+ Point Scorers, 25-Point Rally-Scoring Era (2002-Present)

1. Paola Egonu, Italy, 10-19-2018 (3-2 W vs. China) – 45 (38k, 1b, 5a)
2. Yelena Pavlova, Kazakhstan, 10-31-2006 (3-2 L vs. USA) – 40 (35k, 4b, 1a)
3. Bethania De La Cruz De Pena, Dominican Republic, 10-9-2014 (3-2 L vs. China) – 39 (37k, 2a)
4. Lonneke Sloetjes, Netherlands, 10-15-2018 (3-2 W vs. USA) – 38 (32k, 3b, 3a)
5. Bethania De La Cruz De Pena, Dominican Republic, 10-4-2014 (3-2 L vs. China) – 37 (32k, 2b, 3a)
6. Lonneke Sloetjes, Netherlands, 9-29-2018 (3-1 W vs. Germany) – 36 (33k, 2b, 1a)
7. Louisa Lippmann, Germany, 10-7-2018 (3-2 W vs. Brazil) – 36 (31k, 1b, 4a)
8. Nataliya Goncharova, Russia, 10-4-2018 (3-2 L vs. USA) – 36 (35k, 1b)
9. Paola Egonu, Italy, 10-15-2018 (3-2 W vs. Japan) – 36 (34k, 2b)
10. Bibiana Candelas, Mexico, 9-2-2002 (3-2 L vs. Czech Republic) – 36 (27k, 8b, 1a)
11. Polina Rahimova, Azerbaijan, 10-4-2014 (3-1 W vs. Croatia) – 36 (29k, 3b, 4a)
12. Manon Flier, Netherlands, 10-30-2010 (3-2 L vs. Italy) – 35 (27k, 4b, 4a)
13. Ekaterina Gamoa, Russia, 11-14-2010 (3-2 W vs. Brazil) – 35 (29k, 4b, 2a)
14. Aneta Havlickova, Czech Republic, 11-02-2010 (3-2 W vs. Italy) – 34 (33k, 1b)
15. Caraces Opon Kenia, Cuba, 11-10-2010 (3-2 W vs. Italy) – 34 (31k, 3b)
16. Nalaya Mammadova, Azerbaijan, 11-9-2006 (3-2 W vs. USA) – 34 points (30k, 2b, 2a)
17. Paola Egonu, Italy, 10-11-2018 (3-1 W vs. USA) – 33 (25k, 5b, 3a)
18. Carolina Costagrande, Argentina, 9-1-2002 (3-2 L vs. Puerto Rico) – 33 (29k, 2b, 2a)
19. Yumilka Ruiz Luaces, Cuba, 9-15-2002 (3-2 W vs. South Korea) – 33 (31k, 1b, 1a)
20. Polina Rahimova, Azerbaijan, 9-23-2014 (3-2 W vs. Japan) – 33 (25k, 5b, 3a)
21. Elisa Togut, Italy, 9-15-2002 (3-2 W vs. USA) – 32 (30k, 2b)
22. Tatiana Kosheleva, Russia, 10-2-2014 (3-2 L vs. Turkey) – 32 (30k, 1b, 1a)
23. Zhu Ting, China, 10-11-2014 (3-1 W vs. Italy) – 32 (31k, 1b)
24. Polina Rahimova, Azerbaijan, 9-25-2014 (3-2 W vs. Puerto Rico) – 32 (29k, 2b, 1a)
25. Yumilka Ruiz Luaces, Cuba, 9-12-2002 (3-2 W vs. Bulgaria) – 31 (26k, 5b)
26. Brankica Mihajlovic, Serbia, 9-24-2014 (3-2 W vs. Bulgaria) – 31 (26k, 4b, 1a)
27. Tatiana Kosheleva, Russia, 9-28-2014 (3-1 L vs. USA) – 31 (25k, 4b, 2a)
28. Chaine Staelens, Netherlands, 11-8-2006 (3-1 W vs. German) – 31 (26k, 5b)
29. Valentina Diouf, Italy, 10-12-2014 (3-2 L vs. Brazil) – 31 (29k, 2a)
30. Verania Willis, Costa Rica, 11-4-2006 (3-2 W vs. Kenya) – 30 (27k, 2b, 1a)
31. Nataliya Goncharova, Russia, 9-30-2018 (3-2 W vs. Thailand) – 30 (27k, 1b, 2a)