Italy defeats Kazakhstan by 3-2 in a FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix match
The Italian women’s national volleyball team and the Kazakhstan squad were matched up against each other on 12 August in Almaty, Kazakhstan in a FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix match. The resulting competition took five long and intense sets to reach its
close at the end of which the Italians had dealt out a defeat to the host team by 3-2.
The first set of the match was won by Kazakhstan as the Italians were becoming used to the loud cheering of the home crowd. Despite the fact that the Italians tried to overcome Kazakhstan in the second set, they could not manage a victory. However, the Italians
started out as a rejuvenated team in the third set of the game and won the set by a comfortable margin. The fourth set followed suit and landed on the Italian side. With the match equalised, both teams fought hard in the fifth set of the game but Italy prevailed
in securing the final set at the following set scores: 22-25, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19 and 15-12.
The coach of the Italian team, Barbolini Massimo, expressed his sentiments at the press conference after the match in the following manner: “I want to congratulate Kazakh team. I am satisfied with our play. The winning is always difficult but we did our
best and I am happy that we won in the end.”
On the other hand, Baitureyev Bakhytzhan, the Kazakhstan coach made his feelings known by stating the following: “I am not upset that we have lost but at the same time it is pity we missed a chance. I appreciate deeply B. Sholak Sport and Culture Palace
and our supporters. We fought tough and tried to please our fans but unfortunately, it was not successful”.
The start of the opening set was competitive as both teams were fighting hard to gain dominance on the courts but it was the Kazakhstan side that was able to take the lead early. However, the Italians did not let them get too far and retook the lead for
themselves. After that point, the Italians started making errors that switched the advantage back to Kazakhstan who took the lead all the way to the end at 25-22. The second set of the match progressed on a similar note and ended in favour of Kazakhstan at
25-22 as well.
It was in the third set that the Italians played their game with ferocity and stepped up their blocking technique that limited the scoring of Kazakhstan. Eventually, the Italians won the set at 25-18. The fourth set was mostly dominated by the Italians but
Kazakhstan put up a good fight before the set slipped out of their hands and went towards an Italian win at 25-19.
The final set of the match saw a tie at 5-5 but Kazakhstan was able to manage a lead at 10-6. However, the Italians battled on to secure a win at 15-12.
The player that was able to top all scorers was the Italian Costagrande Carolina as she tallied a total of 23 points while Kazakhstan player Trubina Kristina registered 15 points for her team.
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