Italy's coach satisfied with finish of Youth World Championship at a high note
Team Italy secured the 11th spot at the recently concluded 2011 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship. Italy was headed by Coach Luca Pieragnoli, who seemed satisfied after his team finished eleventh in the tournament. In his own words, the coach
stated: “I’m satisfied to finish the tournament on a high note. We didn’t answer expectations earlier in this competition, but showed a good performance today.”
Italy was challenged by Mexico in the final match for 11th position on Sunday, August 21. The two teams approached the Ankara Sports Hall in the afternoon and kick-started the action and eventually Italy sent 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, and 25-20) on to
the board. Captain Elena Perinelli played a big part in Italy’s win. She put up a valiant effort and added 16 points in her team’s score. Quite similarly, Samantha Bricio played a similar role for Mexico. She also registered 16 points and shared the top-scorer’s
position with the Italian captain.
The first whistle of the referee set things off in the match. Both sides exchanged quick rallies and tried to get a feel for their opponents. Mexico was caught by too many unforced ball-handling errors, which promptly benefitted Italy in the first set. Elena
perinelli of Italy and Monica Lestini formed a great partnership and wrecked the defence lined of their opponents. The Mexicans couldn’t penetrate the fierce spikes of the Italian attackers and lost the opening set, 18-25.
Italy started the second set with full potential and built a strong lead over their opponents. The Girls’ around Mexican Head Coach, Victor Garcia, failed to catch up with the Italian score and lagged behind. Italy led the scores with a 6-point lead at the
first technical timeout, 8-2. They further tightened the screws of the Mexicans and brought more ferocity into the attack. The gap of points further stretched out to 16-9 at the next technical break. Italy continued with success and finished the second set
with a 25-15 victory.
After dropping two sets in a row, Mexico was in deep trouble. Their chances of survival were low as Italy seemed totally prepared for the kill in the third set. Italy captured third set and announced match victory over Mexico.
Italian captain, Elena Perinelli, said that the recent win was their reaction to yesterday’s defeat from Slovakia. Italy received a straight set defeat from the world champions on Saturday, August 20. The team put all its energy in the next match against
Mexico and held them off for a superb win. The captain of Mexico Alicia Castro commented, “We tried our best, but it was not enough. Italy put a lot of pressure on our defence and service reception.”
Mexican coach Victor Garcia praised the good work of the Italian team and congratulated them for winning the match.
Tags: