MEN’S TOURNAMENT RACE 32
ITALY-BULGARIA 3-2 (25-19, 20-25, 25-13, 23-25, 15-12)
Italy: Sbertoli 1, Pinali 18, Michieletto 21, Cavuto 17, Galassi 16, Courtesy 11, Balaso (L). Calves 1, Recine 1, Nelli, Spirito. Ne: Bottolo, Moscow, Federici (L). All: Valentini
Bulgaria: Petrov 2, Stankov, Chavdarov 5, Kolev 4, Parapunov 22, Asparuhov 19, Ivanov V. (L). Kartev 9, Ivanov S. 7, Karyagin 2, Seganov 1, Ivanov M. (L). No: Atanasov, Sokolov, All: Prandi
Referees: Collados (FRA), Kang (KOR)
Set length: 27 ‘, 30’, 27 ‘, 33’, 20 ‘
Italy: a 7 b 17 MV 10 and 23;
Bulgaria: a 2 bs 12 mv 9 et 22
HIGHLIGHTS – VIDEO – Michieletto in a “mix zone” with cheerful pre and post interview backstage
RIMINI – Italy’s first victory in the Volleyball Nations League 2021. Coach Valentini’s Azzurri beat Silvano Prandi’s Bulgaria 3-2 at the end of a very balanced match. The best Azzurri in all statistics: 10 blocks to 9, 7 aces to 2, 69 winning attacks to 60.
Tomorrow, the fifth day, at 4.30 pm he will challenge Iran live on La7
THE ANALYSIS – Today was a test with two faces, a performance in which the young Italian athletes, when they played without anxiety, managed to show off their qualities, but which also showed some lightness from a character point of view with the Azzurri. who had two empty passes: the second and fourth set when they conceded too much to the Bulgarians. Analyzing the positives, Sbertoli and his teammates did really well in some moments of the match, showing improvements compared to the first three of a kind, with the setter and captain able to serve his forwards well and always guaranteeing interesting offensive plots.
On the contrary, the progress of the race has shown that there is still work to be done from the point of view of managing the key phases of a match that after the third set seemed to be channeled on the right tracks of a 3-point victory.
SEXTET – Valentini made a couple of changes compared to the last game by deploying Italy with the diagonal Sbertoli-Pinali; Michieletto and Cavuto the hammers, Galassi and Cortesia the central ones with Balaso free. Massive turnover for Bulgaria that leaves the big Sokolov and Atanasov at rest and for the first 3 sets also the setter owner Seganov.
THE MATCH – Balanced first set in the early stages until, with a partial that turned out to be decisive (from 5-6 in favor of the Bulgarians to 10-6 Italy), the Azzurri placed the extension that allowed them to take the lead and at that point lead the game up to the victorious conclusion of the partial on 25-19. Overall Sbertoli and his companions played really good volleyball giving moments of show with courageous defenses and attacks that were always precise and punctual with the tricolor director who was good at varying the game both with his central players and with the forwards.
In the second set the Azzurri failed to replicate the good start to the race, leaving the field immediately to the opponents who for long stretches managed a minimum advantage which, however, was well managed with the young tricolor team never able to place the decisive break that allowed her to catch up with her opponents. In the final Valentini made a whirlwind of changes which, however, had no effect with the Bulgarians who finished on 25-20 impacting the match on 1-1.
The third set saw Italy get off to a great start by placing a 5-point break that immediately put the Bulgarians in the corner (5-0). Valentini’s boys, sure of the advantage gained, played without worries gradually increasing the lengths (+11) that separated them from their opponents. What ensued was a partial without history with Italy able to close on 25-13 immediately bringing the situation back to 2-1.
Prandi changes with the entry of Seganov in directing and Svetoslav Ivanov in band. Fourth set again balanced with the teams constantly in contact and alternating in command always with very minimal advantages. In the final, however, the Bulgarians stretch up to 24-22 (from 22-22) with Italy ending up giving up on 25-23 thus allowing opponents to grab an unexpected tie-break on consideration of how they had lost the fourth.
Finally, in the last partial, the fear of not succeeding once again blocked the Blues’ arm in some moments, but this time the final partial smiled at the Blues giving them the first deserved success thanks to the 15-12 conclusive.
THEY SAID
Alessandro Michieletto: “I am really happy for this victory, I think we are on the right path, it has been a long battle that has shown all our desire to do well anyway. We know that we will face all top-level teams, but we want to do well. After the first three games I knew I had to do better and this evening I did it; I am happy to have given my contribution even though I am aware that there is still a lot of work to do. We are satisfied with these first two points, but we want to do better and collect some other successes during the event, doing the best possible ”.
