Katowice, Poland, August 30, 2017. Italy became the fifth team with a spot in the LOTTO EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017 quarterfinals. In the first playoff fixture in Katowice, Gianlorenzo Blengini’s squad knocked out Turkey with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 31-29) shutout, finalised with a lot of video challenge drama at the end of the match. On Thursday, at 20:30 local time, the Italians will face Belgium in a battle for advancement to the semis.
The schedule for the Quarter-Finals has been confirmed as:
- Katowice 17:30 GER vs CZE / 20:30 BEL vs ITA
- Krakow: 17:30 RUS vs SLO / 20:30 SRB vs BUL
Outperforming the opponents from the serving line is what gave Italy a real edge in the first set. Simone Giannelli scored two aces as part of a five-point Italian run, which widened the gap to 17-10. This was a blow Turkey never recovered from. In the end, Daniele Mazzone threw in a serving point to shape up the team’s ace tally to five and close the set at an impressive 25-16.
Turkey had a one-point lead at the first technical time-out of the second set, but after the break Italy rushed back with an amazing nine points in a row, with Mazzone behind the serving line. With Matteo Piano chipping in with five kill blocks and Luca Vettori keeping things hot in offence, there was no coming back for Turkey. Vettori’s spike stopped the clocks at 25-17 to double Italy’s lead.
The Turks attempted a comeback in set 3 and were very close to it. Greatly improving their spiking and blocking effort, they piled up a four-point lead at 17-12 and later reached a triple set point at 24-21. A successful video challenge helped Italy stay alive and tie the score. Once again, the Turkish players raised their hands in victorious celebration moments later, but coach Blengini challenged the referee’s decision and, again, this kept his team in the set. Turkey’s coach Josko Milenkoski joined in on the video challenge duel and asked for one when the Italians reached match point, but to no avail. The drama continued through 31-29, when Oleg Antonov finally put the ball on the floor for the closing point of the match.
Luca Vettori and Filippo Lanza led the scorers with 14 and 13 points, respectively, for Italy, while Metin Toy was Turkey’s top point contributor with 12.
Oleg Antonov, player of Italy: "We believed in ourselves in this very difficult third set. Now we have to concentrate on tomorrow’s game with Belgium, which is going to be really difficult. We served very well. I believe that we were pretty good in reception too. Technically, we were not at our best, but we were prepared mentally for this game, as we played under a big pressure."
Gianlorenzo Blengini, coach of Italy: "Obviously we are happy, because the victory was so important for the team and qualification for the quarterfinals was our goal. The third set was the most difficult one for us, because the Turkish team won several points in a row and we had to chase them. Luckily for us, we were able to win also the last set. Of course, the challenge system helped us very much. Today we used it in very important moments, but it is also helpful not only today as referees can stay calm and judge well in the crucial moments of the match."
Murat Yenipazar, player of Turkey: "This game is… nothing to say. In the third set at the end it was because of our lack of experience. I congratulate the Italians. Now it is just the end for us, but it is OK - this is life and this is what Volleyball looks like. We have to move forward and change our mental preparation."
Josko Milenkoski, coach of Turkey: "We started the match with big respect towards the Italian team. Perhaps we lacked enough confidence that we could win against the Olympic silver medallists. We had difficulties in reception, which eliminated our middle blockers from touching the ball often enough. We had big chances in the third set and I cannot remember how many sets we lost this way in the past. We had a few set points and who knows what would have happened from the fourth set. I think my team can still be satisfied with this result, as this is the best result Turkey ever achieved at the European Championship."
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