Germany defeat Italy 2010 CEV Junior European Volleyball Championship
The CEV Junior European Championship accomplished amazing results at the end of the first preliminary round. Each team in Pool 1 and Pool 2 played five matches. The top four teams in both squads qualified for the “final four” matches while the rest of the teams contested for lower positions starting from 5-8.
Germany collided with Italy at the Olimpiets Sports Hall in Mogilev in one of the final four matches on Saturday, 4th Sep. 2010. Germany jumped in with a strong impression and controlled the game from the very start. It helped them build a lead of fair points before the end of the first technical timeout (TTO). Simon Hirsch and Jan-Philipp Marks stormed the Italian side with a heavy strike of spikes and line-shots. In addition, the German setter sent a few deceptive passes which, promptly hit the Italian court and raised Germany’s score. The game moved on with the same attitude and Germany reached 16-12 lead at the end of second technical timeout. They maintained their lead and ultimately took it to 25-21 and won the first set.
However, the Italian side made a great come-back in the second set. They started the set with a completely different tone. The Italian middle-blocker Daniele Mazzone became the centre of attention as he demonstrated an admirable game. It was believed to be one of his best performances of the tournament. He added 13 valuable points to Italy’s score by killing five German spikes. The pressure shifted to the German side in the second set. Germany undertook every possible measure to gain control in the game but Italians simply refused to accept their authority. The bad reception of German players gave way to Italian success in the second set. Italy restricted Germany to14 points and won the set by hitting 25 on the scoreboard.
The triumph in the second set put a new soul in Italian players. They didn’t stop and kept on producing the unstoppable spikes. The head coach of Italy Liano Petrelli was more than happy to see the team performing in an extra-ordinary way. Italian players had spotted the weak points of Germany and forced them to trail behind in the points’ run. Italy led the game in the third set and dominated the opposite side by incorporating over-head passes. The score gradually moved to the game point and Italy finished the third set with a 25-21win.
Italy got a commanding position with 2-1 score and seemed pretty confident in the fourth set. Somehow, the players on German board brainstormed a new strategy and came up with a different plan to dismantle Italian strength. Italy opened the fourth set in the same fashion and tried to keep Germany under the limit. On the other hand, Germany had a hard time to raise their heads after the loss of two sets in a row but they never lost hope and kept trying. Their efforts brought them good results and finally they were able to regain their status in the game. Italians used Filippo Lanza to subdue the German attack but the situation remained unchanged.
Italy got an edge and stayed put on the same track. Germany was back in the game and they strongly pushed their rivals to the back-court area. The fourth set ended at 25-20 and Germany was declared the winner.
The 2-2 score restored Germany’s confidence and they started the final set with minimum errors. The early points were scored by Germany which put pressure on Italy’s struggling team. The scored moved to 10-7 and Italy felt the potential fear of losing their grip on the game. Moreover, German spikers delivered court-pounding shots, which perfectly landed in the Italian court and scored points for Germany. The score rapidly moved to 15-13 and Germany achieved match victory by 3-2.
The match lasted for 121 minutes and nine hundred spectators witnessed the great volleyball action.
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