Italy defeats Algeria in straight sets at the Olympics – Volleyball News
The ladies around Italian Coach Massimo Barbolini displayed an incredible action on the net and held off Algeria for 3-0 (25-11, 25-12, 25-17) victory on Friday.
The volleyball scrimmage took place at the Earls Court, where 11,000 spectators were in presence. Italy maintained its great run in the tournament and extended its winning streak to four matches. Currently, the Italian squad holds the second position in Pool A of Women's Olympic volleyball tournament. Russia is on top with a small margin of points.
Italy’s Antonella Del Core and Valentina Arrighetti showed remarkable consistency and helped the team with 13 and 10 points respectively. Likewise, Simona Gioli from Italy made her presence felt with her tactful play. She notched up 9 points, whereas Carolina Costagrande and Francesca Piccinini scored 8 points each.
On the other hand, Algeria struggled with Zohra Bensalem and Lydia Oulmou. The two of them emerged as the top scorers for Algeria with 13 and 9 points respectively.
Algeria was no match for strong Italian side and it became evident in the first few minutes of the match. Italy came out firing in the first set and jumped to an early lead. Algeria suffered frequent setbacks and kept in chase throughout the set. Italy dominated the scene and locked the opponents at a low score of 11. First set ended in Italy’s favour at 25-11.
The situation did not change for Algeria in the following set either. Italy gained more power and confidence, while Algeria felt tons of pressure. Second set quickly covered its length and awarded Italy with another set-win.
Italy cruised past to straight set win by seizing third set with eight points (25-17).
“It was important to maintain the rhythm of our and it was important we are prepared for Sunday, which is our most important match. Of course it's always important to do one's best but it's most important to beat Russia. Then we will be even better prepared when we arrive at the quarterfinals,” said Italy’s Valentina Arrighetti after the match.
Captain of the Algerian team Lydia Oulmou expressed her views in the following manner: “It was an interesting match. Italy is the first team that we play that is like us. They have the same type of play - same height, but with a higher level than us. Japan played really quick in comparison to Italy.”
Team Italian will go against archrival Russia in the last match of preliminary round-robin on Sunday. Likewise, Algeria and Dominican Republic will contest their skills in the last match of the prelims. Check back for more news and updates.
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