After thrilling quarterfinals games on the men's side of the bracket, the women took center stage Tuesday with four massive games on the schedule.
The action kicked off with China vs. Turkiye, followed by Brazil vs. Dominican Republic, United States vs. Poland and wrapped up with Italy vs. Serbia.
Vargas powers Turkiye past China and into semifinals
Neither of these teams had any trouble getting through their group, as China earned the three seed with two wins and Turkiye finished second in Pool C to qualify automatically.
The Turks did have problems with the Chinese defense early on Tuesday, however, as they were inefficient in the first set and took a 25-23 defeat to open the match. But Turkiye's superstar Melissa Vargas, who tallied 10 points in the first-set loss, took over the match and led her country to an impressive five-set win.
After taking the second set, Turkiye showed its might in the third set as it simply overpowered China. The play that perfectly encapsulated their strength came with Turkiye up 21-20 after a late push from China. Turkiye blocked four straight China swings, then finally got control and fed Vargas for a monster kill to go up two.
The third set is really when Vargas became the story of the game, doubling her total on the night to a ridiculous 30 points through three. Turkiye went to her when it needed her most after China tied the set at 24, giving her country the lead with her 30th point of the match. The Turks won the set 26-24 and took full control of the match up 2-1.
China was far from done, looking like a completely different team in the fourth set. The Chinese held two 10-point leads — the last of which was at 18-8 — and looked to be cruising, when suddenly Turikye woke up and and went on an 11-3 run to pull within two. China was able to hold off the late surge behind Zhu Ting and Li Yingying, as each made huge plays throughout the set to force the fifth. Li had 19 through four and Zhu added 18 as the pair willed their team to a decisive fifth set.
The fifth set turned out to be worthy of the tremendous match that preceded it. Both teams fired everything they had at each other in an extremely tight and tense set with barely anything separating the two. In the end, Turkiye made just enough plays behind Vargas to come away with a 15-12 set win and make its way into the semifinals. The Turkish superstar had eight points in the final set, finishing with 42 on the night, a performance for the ages to get her team into the medal rounds.
The win marks Turkiye's first Olympic appearance in the semifinals, where Italy is waiting.
Brazil cruises into semifinals with straight-sets win over the Dominican Republic
Brazil rolled through pool play, not dropping a set on its way to the top seed in the knockout rounds, and earned itself a matchup with the Dominican Republic, which snuck through after upsetting the Netherlands in the final match of pool play. It was the most lopsided matchup of the knockout rounds on paper and it played out that way on the court as Brazil rolled right into the semifinals.
The night belonged to Brazilian superstar, Gabi, who put on an incredible attacking display in the first set with 10 points on 8/12 swings and two blocks. Her attacking prowess propelled Brazil to a 25-22 set win and it never looked back from there.
Brazil dominated the second set 25-13 behind six more points from Gabi and some incredible defensive work. The Brazilians had 21 digs in the set and allowed just eight of 38 swings from the Dominicans to hit the floor.
It was all over from there as Brazil sailed home with a 25-16 win in the third set to finish the match. While Gabi shined above all, she had plenty of help from her partners in crime Ana Cristina, who had 14 on 10/26 swings, and Rosamaria with 11 on 9/24.
The great defensive Brazilian defensive effort was anchored by the 37-year-old legend, Thaisa, who retired from the national team in 2019 but has returned in fine form leading into these Games. She had seven points on two blocks and was a perfect 5/5 in attack, including the match-winning point.
Brazil now enters the semifinals having not lost a set and looks like a real threat to win its third gold medal in the last five Olympics. The United States will be the next side faced with the task of taking down the mighty Brazilians.
Team USA sets up Tokyo rematch with Brazil
Team USA crushed Poland on its way to a fifth consecutive semifinal appearance at the Olympic Games.
Head coach Karch Karaily inserted what he calls his "slugger" lineup by putting in Avery Skinner and Kathryn Plummer and it worked to perfection. Each of the young Americans had 12 points on the night and were a huge part of an efficient attack that dominated the Polish defense.
Annie Drews, the star of the tournament for the U.S. to this point, was quiet early but got rolling late. She ended up as the United States' leading scorer with 13 points.
The attack was efficient and the defense was tremendous, with 10 blocks and 50 digs on the night to make life incredibly difficult on the Polish attack. The U.S. shut down a really good Poland team and the match was really never close, especially in a 25-14 second-set win.
The U.S. erased a six-point deficit in the third set with an 18-6 run and never looked back to advance to the semifinals.
The win sets up a rematch of the gold medal match from Tokyo with Brazil. This will be an incredibly stiff challenge for the Americans, Brazil has yet to lose a set and will be out for revenge after losing to the U.S. in Tokyo.
Egonu outshines Boskovic to take Italy into semifinals
This was a matchup of power on power with two of the stars of the tournament, Serbia's Tijana Boskovic and Italy's Paola Ogechi Egonu, facing off with a place in the semifinals on the line.
On this night it was no contest, as Egonu led the way for the Italians, who punched their ticket to the country's first ever Olympic semifinals in women's volleyball.
Italy did a tremendous job early holding Boskovic in check. The 2023 World Championships MVP — who can take over a match at any time — had six points but on an inefficient 5/16 swings. By her extremely lofty standards, that was a quiet first set and it helped propel Italy to a 26-24 win in comeback fashion.
While Boskovic has been the story in most of her matches in Paris, the headlines Tuesday belonged to Italy's Egonu. She led the way for Italy with 19 points as the offense simply picked Serbia's defense apart.
Boskovic was able to match Egonu's 19 kills, but was extremely inefficient in doing so. She was just 18/43 on swings with 14 total errors, including four on serves.
Meanwhile, Egonu was efficient and the defense around her was fantastic. Italy had seven blocks on the night, compared to just two for Serbia. It all added up to a very easy three-set win to guarantee the top-ranked Italians a shot at their first ever Olympic medal in women's volleyball.
Only Turkiye stands in the way between Italy and a shot at gold.