FIVB Volleyball Championship: Italy defeats USA in Round 3
After ruling the podium of the 2010 FIVB Men’s World Championship in Round 2, host team Italy is looking to sustain its excellent form in the third round as well. With consistent performances, Italy has remained unbeaten in the first two rounds of the championship
and has now extended their winning streak by claiming the first match of Round 3 against a resilient USA team with a 3-1 win with scores of 14-25, 25-23, 28-26, and 25-22.
The combat was staged on Tuesday, the 5th of October in front of a 9’500 crowd gathered at the Palalottomatica Sports Hall in Rome, Italy. The fantastic support from Italian fans provided an extra edge for the home team to demonstrate an impressive
game against a charged up American team after their recent win against France in the third round opener on 4th October, 2010. Nevertheless, the Americans failed to win against a powerhouse Italian team and lost the all important match, which could
have promoted them to the semi-finals.
First Set
Coach Alan Knipe’s team started the first set in the right direction. They produced good sharp serves and kept their eye on the ball. American Captain Priddy William led the team in a great manner and scored early points in the game. On the other hand, Italy
started with an average pace and took some time to get understand their rivals. The U.S. team in the meantime hit powerful spikes with the help of Stanley Clayton. As a result, the American scored consistently and they quickly achieved the set point in the
23rd minute of the game. Italy played the first set as if it was an ordinary team struggling to stay in the fore. Against most expectations, the U.S. easily edged past Italy in the first set with a score of 25-14.
Second Set
After dropping the first set, Italy hit back in the second round. Fei Alessandro stood in front of the U.S. hitters and dismissed their attacks with an efficient display of blocking. Italy maintained their composure as the arena echoed for an Italian victory.
Slowly but surely, Italy gained strength from the roaring support. Italy’s Head Coach Andrea Cristian made good use of the first technical timeout (TTO) and instructed the team to hit the weak areas in the American defence.
Italy played in the second set in a different style and got out of the blues. The U.S. team was equally active on their side who tried to put pressure on Italy. Finally, Italy made the difference and clinched the set with a 25-23 score.
Third Set
Italy successfully recovered from the shock of defeat with a second set victory. The third set turned out to be a bruising battle between the two teams. Both teams were going for the kill. Priddy and Stanley developed a good combination and contributed valuable
points in USA’s favour. The swift aces created a lot of trouble for the Italian defence. Somehow, the Italians defended their position soon after and didn’t let U.S. players launch a power response. The third set was a long tiring fight, which ended at 28-26
after 33 minutes’ of play. At the end, Italy proved to be too good for the Americans.
Fourth Set
Fresh after winning two consecutive sets, Italy looked in excellent form. They were able to drag the U.S. team under pressure. Nonetheless, the Americans tried hard to bring the game to a dead-lock by winning the fourth set but they couldn’t catch up to
Italy’s powerful run in the match. The host-team took the match with a 25-22 score in the final set to end with a 3-1 set score in their favour.
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