US secures finals spot in World League – Volleyball news
A Pool C match of the World League took place between USA and Italy on Sunday, July 1, 2012 that marked the last match of the Intercontinental Round of the tournament for both the sides. The host city of the match was Dallas, Texas while the venue of the competition was the Dallas Convention Center Arena where a total of 5139 spectators had gathered to watch the show. It was a tough competition at the end of which USA ended up with a win by 3-2.
It took US a total of two hours and 17 minutes to make an impressive win at the following final set scores: 26-28, 25-20, 24-26, 25-17 and 15-10. The victory has enabled the US to secure a spot in the final round of the tournament that will be taking place in Bulgaria.
The coach of the US side, Alan Knipe, expressed his delight at the win by making the following comments, “It was a well played, high-spirited match. It usually is between these two teams...We are pleased. It was a must-win for us against a quality opponent, an Olympic opponent. It allows us to go on and gain experience before London.”
On the other hand, the Italian coach Mauro Berruto, gave the following statements at the loss of his team, “This was our highest-level match this week and I am more satisfied because for three sets we were playing at a really high level even if we have some problems. We played our target, to play a lot...We are ready to get over to London.”
The highest scorer of the match was Clay Stanley of US as he contributed 25 points in the entire game while the top scorer from the Italian side was Ivan Zaytsev with 21 points.
The opening set reached a tie at 6-6 but Italy managed to take the lead at 8-6 and extended it further at 12-10. The set reached a tie at 19-19 with the US leading at 24-21 before Italy closed in the gap and went on to win the first set at 28-26.
The second set got to a tie at 6-6 but the US was leading at 9-6 before Italy tied the match at 10-10. However, US managed to take the advantage at 16-13 and were able to stretch it till 19-13. After that point, US did not look back as they went ahead to bag the second set at 25-20.
The third set reached a tie at 8-8 and the frame remained close throughout but it was Italy who got their hands on the win at 26-24. US took the match to a fifth set by securing the fourth one at 25-17.
The fifth set was tied at 4-4 but Italy took the lead at 6-4. US did not give up the chase and sped ahead to take the lead at 8-6 and finally bag the set at 15-10.
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