The Italian player Serena Ortolani throws a sponsor ball into the public before their match against Puerto Rico |
Hamamatsu, Japan, October 29 - Italy repelled an early challenge from Puerto Rico to run away with an opening round straight-set victory (25-20, 25-11, 25-18) in Pool B of the FIVB Women's World Championships in Hamamatsu, Japan on Friday.
While underdog Puerto Rico took early first set leads behind the blistering serving and spikes of Aurea Cruz, Italy's frontline eventually over-powered them and led them to easier wins in the final two sets.
FIVB Women's World Championship Japan 2010 official page
Italy seemed ready to blow out Puerto Rico early, winning the first five points. But then Puerto Rico stormed back with six straight and an early lead. Flirting with a major upset, Puerto Rico held early leads behind the strong spiking of Aurea Cruz, who also challenged Italy's receivers with sky high tosses and topspin serves. Puerto Rico held off Italian surges and remained tied at 17, before Italy's experience showed through. Eleonora Lo Bianco's service ace gave Italy a 23-19 edge, and they held on to win 25-20.
In the second set, Italy jumped to early leads of 4-0, 8-2 and 13-3, behind the strong spiking of Simona Gioli. The clever direction of setter Lo Bianco helped them extend their leads to 16-5 and 20-7. Italy simply over-powered Puerto Rico at the net to win the set 25-11.
In the third set, Gioli blocked almost everything early on to give Italy a 2-0 lead. After Puerto Rico fought back with two points of their own, Lo Bianco's arching set across the court set up a spike for a 3-2 lead for Italy. Italy slowly built bigger leads to 14-9, and stayed consistently ahead by five points or more to coast to a 25-18 win. |
