European Volleyball: Belarus beat Italy in Pool II matches of Junior European Volleyball Championship 2010
The famous East European country Belarus is hosting Men’s European Volleyball Championship this week. The event greeted 12 teams, which were divided in two pools. The host Belarus was included in the Pool II along with Serbia, Bulgaria, Italy, France and Spain. The tournament started on 28th August and volleyball action will complete its run on 5th September, 2010.
Belarus initially played three matches and finished with devastating results. The huge fan-line had high hopes about their team but unfortunately team couldn’t produce a good show to impress the local audience. They lost their first match against Bulgaria, while Serbs also ousted them with embarrassing defeat in second match. Belarus took on Spain in third match and collapsed in the hands of Spaniards. This was how they covered first three flights with bad reputation, and entered the fourth match on 1st September with Italy under huge pressure.
Therefore, Belarus had the urge to shake off the bad impression. They played against Italy and created a chance for the fans to be happy about their performance. Belarus earned its first victory in the tournament by defeating Italy. The volleyball devotees finally celebrated the first victory of their team, as Belarus dismissed Italy on the fifth day of the tournament. The Olimpiets Sports Hall in Belarusian city Mogilev was banged with the uproar of massive crowd, as host team achieved 3-1 victory over visitor Italian team. In fact, after repeated failure in the first three games, Belarusian coach Igor Zagortsev re-aligned the team lines and set a direction for players to make a difference. The formula worked and players produced better results in the fourth match. This particular win has enabled Belarus to appear in the classification matches this weekend in Mogilev.
Match Summery - First Set
The first set was opened with long serves from Italy and they put influence on Belarus in their usual style. The first six rallies were claimed by Italy and they were able to build a good lead over Belarus. The Italians displayed much control over the ball and remained consistent in extending their lead. Italy was ahead in the points’ run at the first technical timeout (TTO). Later in the set, Belarus took advantage of Italian errors and scored a few points. The middle-blocker Vadzim Pranko of Belarus helped the team score with strong kills of Italian spikes. The host team understood opponents’ strategy and captured the vulnerable spots to save the points. The points’ gap was reduced to 21-19 while Belarus came out of blues and broke the lead. They continued with same pace and achieved first-set triumph on Italy.
Second Set
Belarus stayed put on the same winning track and produced powerful hits in the second set. They avoided ball-handling errors and continued their attack attempts. On the other hand, Italy used their attacker Lanza to hit great under-hand shots for Italy. Quite similarly Belarus brought in Vadzim Pranko to answer Italian strike. The strong serves by Vadzim created a lot of trouble for Italy and pushed Belarusian score. Belarus led the set with heavy lead of 11-2, while Italy’s coach tried different methods to stop Belarus from scoring points. The coach substituted most of the players but it couldn’t hinder Belarus’ performance. They jumped to 16-5 and finally won the set by 25-13.
3rd Set
Belarus slowed down in third set, which provided Italy a chance to lead the game. They took the score to 16-7 and further maintained the lead. Finally they posted 25-15 win over hosts in the set.
Final Set
The final set saw Belarus again in a great form. They stormed the whole scene with brilliant aces and blocks. They won the final set with a margin of 8 points (25-17) and pulled off the match-victory against Italy.
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