Italy sends Japan to 3-1 loss in the second match of Olympic Tournament – Volleyball News
Women’s national volleyball teams from Italy and Japan came into a close competition at the Earls Court in London on Monday, July 30.
Italian team proved to be better and marched away with 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 25-22) victory, while Japanese side suffered the loss. Italy sent Japan to first defeat in the Olympic Women’s Volleyball Tournament. Japan won against Algeria in the previous match on Saturday. However, the team now stands with 1-1 record whereas Italy improved to 2-0 with second straight win in the competition. Italy did the same treatment to Dominican Republic in the last match and bagged 3-1 victory.
Yukiko Ebata put up a valiant effort for Team Japan, but failed to lead her side to success. She added match-high 21 points in the loss. Saori Kimura of Japan also created a lot of spark on the centre court. She was credited for second-best score (19) in the match.
The dynamic duo of Carolina Costagrande and Antonella Del Core fought for Italy. The two of them added 17 and 16 points respectively. Lucia Bosetti and Simona Gioli also contributed to the overall success of Italy and charted 15 points apiece.
In the first two frames of the match, scoring was pretty much tight. Both teams had good level of energy and displayed extreme action on the net. Italian spikers came into stride with the Japanese blockers. Japan gave a good competition to Italy, but could not avoid the loss in first two sets. Italian side secured the first set with three points (25-22) and maintained its winning streak by claiming second stanza at 25-21.
Japan continued putting more and more effort and eventually managed to overcome the resilient rival in third set. Italy dropped third set with a margin of five points, 20-25. However, the Italian ladies regained better status in fourth set and put an end to the tussle by posting 25-22 on board.
Lucia Bosetti, Player of Italy said: "The Japanese have a very good defence, but we played very well. It was very good to win and we know the tournament is difficult. We want to qualify in the best possible position."
The winning captain of Italy Eleonora Lo Bianco shared the similar thoughts and praised the solid defence of Japanese team.
Yoshie Takeshita, Player of Japan stated: "We made a few mistakes, but we played aggressively so I am not happy that we lost. But despite this, we will work harder for the next match. The energy from the Japanese (fans in the) crowd helps us a lot."
Next up, Italy is schedule to face home team from Great Britain on Wednesday. Japan, on the other hand, will meet Dominican Republic.
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