Sloetjes and Dutch blast Italy off the court to move to top of the table

Italy’s iron grip on the 2016 Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament has been loosened by an impressive 3-0 defeat at the hands of The Netherlands, (25-21, 25-21, 25-21).

Italy had been hoping to lock away its qualification for Rio, but instead will have to wait for the weekend to secure one of four Olympic berths available.

Lonneke Sloetjes, already the leading point scorer in the tournament, was devastating in the opening set. The 25-year-old clocked up ten points in the opening set as Italy looked under serious pressure for the first time in the week.

Captain Antonella Del Core was leading the way for Italy with six points, but after surrendering the lead early in the set the tournament leaders had no answer to the power of Sloetjes and the physical presence of Yvon Belien at the net.

The crowd had become so used to seeing Italy dominate this week, that when it lost the first set to Netherlands there were looks of …

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