Italy rebounds from first set loss to beat Americans in FIVB World Championship
It was a contest that some were calling the ‘clash of the titans’, but after the first set it looked more like ‘David and Goliath’. But Italy, early on the proverbial David, came back to beat America in
volleyball action yesterday
It's now deep into the Federation Internationale de Volleyball’s (FIVB) Men’s World Championships. The host country, Italy, is still alive and spiking in Pool O with the Americans and the French.
In the first match of Pool O, the Americans had little trouble defeating the French. With a win against Italy on Tuesday, the Americans would clinch a spot in the semi-finals, but the Azzurri would not
go softly.
In the first set of the clash, the Americans recovered from an 8-6 deficit to win 25-14. The impressive 11 point margin had many feeling like the Americans were going to advance to the semi-finals with
ease. Much of the credit in the first set was given to Americans David Lee and Clayton Stanley, who seemed unstoppable when serving. Clayton ended the day with three aces, while Lee and Russell Holmes each added one. Italy could only muster two aces all match.
The Americans were in good position to defeat the host country up 1-0, but Cristian Savani and Alessandro Fei began a barrage of spikes and blocks that fuelled a 25-23 second set victory for the Italians.
Savani finished the match with 16 points, and Fei with 17.
In the third set the Azzurri took an early 7-3 lead, and US coach, Alan Snipe, decided to replace Sean Rooney with Paul Lotman. The move was successful for the Americans as they clawed their way back to
earn a 24-24 tie, but the Italian team was too strong to allow the American team to complete the comeback. Italy took the third set 28-26.
In the fourth set, there was little the US could do as the Italians countered the American attack, and took a 25-22 victory to win the match 3-1 (14-25, 25-23, 28-26, 25-22). Luigi Mastrangelo, who was
crucial in the third set, scored the match winning point, and Matej Cernic and Simone Parodi combined for an incredible 100 per cent receiving rate in the final set for Italy.
The Italians will now face France in the final match of Pool O. If Italy wins, they’ll clinch a spot in the semi-finals and the Americans will follow as the runner-up from Pool O. Should the French manage
to beat the Italians, the three teams will have identical records, and the team with the most points will advance to the semi-finals.
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