14/05/2015 19:39
Italy and Russia start World Champs qualifier on a high note
2015 FIVB U20 Women Volleyball World Championship - European Qualification
Anapa, Russia, May 14, 2015. Italy started their quest for a spot in the FIVB Volleyball Women’s U20 World Championship coming up later this summer in Puerto Rico by recording a 3:1 (27-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-13) victory over Poland in the match that opened the second-round qualifier at Voleygrad in Anapa, Russia. Later in the afternoon the hosts of Russia routed the silver-medal winners from last year’s U19 European Championship, Slovenia, in three sets (25-15, 25-11, 25-16) to assert their intention to fight for that much desired ticket at stake to represent Europe at the World Championship.
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Italy vs. Poland 3:1 (27-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-13)
Italy came out with all guns blazing, standing out especially at blocking, to claim an 8:3 lead at the first technical time-out of the opening set. Poland, on the other hand, struggled in defence and their deficit grew bigger and bigger, eventually reaching seven points. However, at some point the girls in red and white jerseys could regroup and their comeback was complete once they levelled the score at 21 all. The final section of this set was quite dramatic with Italy eventually edging past at 27-25.
Poland were off to a mighty start in the second set leading the way by 8:3 at the first technical break in a display of high-speed Volleyball. Both teams showed some terrific and powerful attacks – something you do not always get to see at this level – but it was Italy to have the upper hand once more, this time on a block of Vittoria Alice Piani for the final 25-21.
The scenario did not change much also in the third set where Italy set the pace for most of the time before Poland clawed back to restore the balance at 18 all. In the end, the Polish girls could avoid a straight-set defeat and their 26-24 win called for a fourth set.
This was absolutely one-sided with Italy getting back on track after the setback they had suffered in the previous one and with a terrific 25-13 they pocketed their first win in the tournament.
Vittoria Alice Piani (pictured, #15) commented: “The first set was very difficult, but we worked hard and could bring it home. We lost the third set in a bad way. Though it was difficult, we tried to stay as focussed as possible and we eventually won the match. We have to continue to work hard.”
Her mentor Luca Cristofani added: “It was an intense match both physically and psychologically, but my team stuck together. This is only the very beginning of our season and so we are happy with the result.”
Russia vs. Slovenia 3:0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-15)
The score remained close in the opening stages of the first set with Russia showing their skills at blocking but making also some mistakes to keep their opponents in the race. Slovenia edged ahead at 9:8 but the home side got back their focus and flipped the charts around claiming a four-point lead at the second technical time-out (16:12). Anastasia Barchuk started scoring with consistency and she contributed three points in a row to her team’s tally. In the end, Russia comfortably claimed the first set by 25-16.
The hosts continued to put pressure on their opponent also in the second set, especially with their duo Barchuk – Tatiana Iurinskaia; after opening with a 6:2 lead, Russia widened their margin to nine points (16:7) and this paved the way for a speedy and massive 25-11 set win.
Slovenia attempted a comeback in the third set where they finally could score with their spikers and helped also by some Russian mistakes in reception, the visitors moved the score to 8:5 in their favour. However, after a mistake by Nika Markovic from the service line, Russia got back on track and eventually claimed a six-point lead with the blocks killed by Taisia Konovalova and Angelina Sperskaite. The hosts could hold on to their advantage and brought the match to a close in three sets (25-15).
Russia coach Petr Kobrin commented: “Today the girls showed they can do everything. The only bad thing was the number of mistakes they made and we will work to improve on this. Our next opponent is Poland and today they played at eye level with Italy. Today we managed to beat in three sets the silver-medal winners from last year’s European Championship. Maybe from the outside it seems like it was an easy victory but it was not so. The girls were concentrated and played with glowing hearts, but still we have another couple of tough matches ahead.”
Anastasia Barchuk, who scored 10 points in the end, added: “We were very well prepared for this match and we thought it would be a very challenging and difficult one. As I said we were well prepared and this victory means a lot to us. I am very glad that we could play with the right attitude and that we won in the end.”
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