Italy beats Cuba 3-0: 2011 FIVB World League Prelims - Volleyball news
Team Italia posted a great 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, and 32-30) win over the Cuban team on Wednesday, June 29. The match was held at the Italian city of Parma, while the Palaraschi Competition Hall recorded the wonderful performance.
The first matches of the 2011 FIVB World League Prelims last week, saw the Italian team, supervised by head coach Mauro Berruto, exhibit a well planned game plan and settle for their eighth victory in the tournament. Italy is the top team of Pool D with
25 points, while Cuba is second with a difference of five points.
The opening set of the match was a close fight as both sides had good energy and players made good use of their hands. Although reception errors were common from both teams, Italy managed to gain a three-point advantage. The Cubans side attacked from back
row and pushed their opponents behind. Meanwhile, Italy’s Cristian Savani put up a good show against his rivals and the situation got better for the home squad as they managed to dismantle the power of the Cuban strikers. Italy continued with success and clawed
back to a first set win at 25-23.
Italians had grasped the game plan of their opponents by the second set as they restricted Cuba by offering solid blocks. The hosts led the game at the first technical timeout, while Caribbean team tried hard to minimise the gap. Their hard-work paid off
and the scoreboard once showed a score of 7-8 in favour of Cuba. However, Italy didn’t take long to come back and they chipped in quick points and finished second set with final score of 25-22.
The two sides started the third set with great determination. Italy tried hard to capture the third set and announce match victory. On the other hand, Cuba was still thinking of outdoing Italy by all means. Cuban players showed their attacking power and
put away some good points. In response Italy did the same and showed no mercy to the visitors. The neck to neck battle ended with the final word given out favour of the Italian team as they claimed a third set victory by sending 32-30 onto the board.
Italian mentor Mauro Berruto was happy about his team’s wonderful display of volleyball and said, “A great success for Italy. I’m really proud of my team because Cuba is a really strong opponent. We maintained a great concentration despite we were all ready
qualified for the Final Eight, we did a great game with a fantastic recovery in the final set."
His Caribbean counterpart, Orlando Samuels, also praised the good effort of the Italian team as he congratulated them for match victory. Moreover, he also thanked the amazing audience that added another flavour to the game. Speaking of his own side, he said
they needed to gain more experience and try not to make too many mistakes during matches.
“We must go on” was the message of Cuba Captain Leon Venero Wilfredo. He said they lost the match duo to excessive reception and serve errors but they would surely try to improve their performance in the next match.
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