First defeat for the Italians in Lodz. On Saturday at 8.30pm the match against Germany which can put Mazzanti’s team back in the running
Italy-United States 1-3 (19-25, 25-23, 21-25, 18-25)
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The first of the three decisive matches for qualification for the Paris Games does not smile on Davide Mazzanti’s national team. In the Pre-Olympic tournament in Lodz (Poland) the Italians lose their first match and tomorrow they are called to the match against Germany (8.30pm), a decisive match to keep alive their hopes of direct qualification for the Games (the top two in the group qualify) .
The match
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At the start the Italy coach relies on Bosio as director, Antropova as opposite, the spikers are Sylla and Pietrini while in the center there is space for Danesi and Lubian. Free Fersino. The Italian game struggled to take off with Antropova unable to make an impact (3 points in the 1st set). Mazzanti tries Nwakalor but the results do not change. While in the US camp the game relies on Thompson (6 points in the opening set) and on the qualities of the Larson-Robinson pair in place-4.
Reaction
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The inertia of the success of the 1st set also pushes the USA at the start of the second set with Robinson and his teammates rising to 6-3. At that point Antropova awakens (10 points in the 2nd set alone) and with her rotation in service brings the Italians back ahead until the national team’s block which is worth 9-6. Italy reached the maximum lead of 6 points (14-8) but Kiraly’s team had the strength to come back pushed by the walls of central Rettke (4). Antropova closes the set at 24-23.
The final
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In the 3rd set the United States immediately extend their lead with the attacks of Thompson (17 points in the first 3 sets) and Robinson (12) while on the blue court, after an initial relay in the first two sets, Villani definitively takes the place of Pietrini ( in the last two days debilitated by a feverish state). Antropova has difficulties again (5 points in the 3rd set) and an attack by Thompson closes the partial 25-21. At the end of the set Kiraly throws Plummer into the fray for Larson, a choice that he then rides to the end. The United States escapes from 12-11 to 19-13 and the last points are purely down to management.
September 22, 2023 (modified September 22, 2023 | 10.46 pm)
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