Italy bags first title of FIVB Women’s Junior World Championship - Volleyball
Audiences witnessed the birth of new champions at the FIVB Women’s Junior World Championship yesterday, July 31, as Italy pulled off success against Brazil in the final match of the tournament. They worked out a great win over the top contestant of the tournament
in a four-set match. Italy earned a better status by posting a 3-1 (21-25, 25-13, 25-20, and 25-22) victory over their rivals.
The influential final match was played in a fully packed Eduardo Dibos Gymnasium in Lima, Brazil. The support of the home crowd and competitive edge of playing at the home soil didn’t work out for Brazil. They could only capture one set of the match, while
ended up in second place.
This is the first time that Italy has been featured as the top team of the FIVB Women’s Junior World Championship. Previously, the second-place finish of Team Italy in 1997 was their highest achievement in the under-20 women’s premier international event.
Italy was regarded as number-12 team in the FIVB youth and junior girls’ world rankings before the start of 2011 FIVB Women’s Junior World Championship. However, they put up a great show of volleyball and wrote a new chapter in the volleyball history. They
climbed up to the top-position and seized the first gold medal.
Match overview
Brazilian team played in its usual style and made a strong opening in the match. Correa Marjorie set things off in first set with powerful serves. Meanwhile, Gabriela Souza got several kills. As a result, Brazil led the game at first technical timeout. Rosa
Laura Baggie of Italy stepped up and offered solid defence to the heavy strike of home team. The exchange of fast spikes and tricky passes turned the affair into a heated competition. Italians fought well but couldn’t stop Brazil from winning the opening set.
They held the game well under their hand and finished the first set with 4-point lead at 25-21 in 26 minutes.
The loss of first set infuriated the Italian hitters. They threw everything in the attack and stormed their opponents’ half with ground-breaking shots in the following set. Italy scored the early points of the set and tried to hinder the performance of their
opponents. Valentina Diouf remained very successful and added point after point. Caterina Bosetti also joined hands with her team-mate, while Italian libero Carolina Zardo also came strong to the net. Brazil was stunned by the quick retaliation from Team Italy.
They resisted but failed to save the second set. Italy levelled the score at the end of second set.
Third set was another great display of volleyball by Italian team. They formed good combinations and did equally well on attack and defence. They picked up an early lead and didn’t allow Brazil to come out of blues afterwards. Italy claimed third-set skilfully
and extended its lead to 2-1.
The fourth set quite imitated with the previous set as Italian players were simply on fire. They led the score in opening phase of the fourth set but Brazil actually managed to make a difference. They surpassed Brail at the second mandatory stop and struggled
to regain dominance over opposite side. Nonetheless, Italy proved to be better team and pushed Brazil behind in the fourth set. Success in three consecutive sets allowed Italy to announce match victory. Mission was accomplished and Italian team more than happy
about gold-medal win.
Distinctions
Italian top-gun, Valentina Diouf, was the top-scorer of the day. She clinched 22 points and made it destined for Italy to win the match. Equally talented Caterina Bosetti contributed 20 points in Italy’s score and settled for the position of second-best
scorer in the match. Additionally, she was also named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2011 FIVB Women’s Junior World Championship. On the other hand, Brazilian side was led by Gabriela Souza, who registered 16 points. Another Brazilian player, Laura
Baggi, also put up good effort and added 12 points.
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