By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Italy bucked an opening set hiccup to beat Brazil, 23-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-21, at the start of Week 3 of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Tuesday, July 4, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Backstopped by Yuri Romano and Alessandro Michieletto, the Italians displayed their might against the Brazilians in a showdown of Olympic finalists for their sixth victory in nine games in the series.
Romano electrified the crowd with his 20-point performance, including 16 kills, while Michieletto chipped in 17 points highlighted by 14 attacks as the world-ranked Italians completed their impressive recovery from a slow start.
Italy’s offensive strength was in full display in the third frame where it erased a 7-8 deficit on the way to taking a 16-10 lead and eventually the set win.
Brazil showed some resistance in the fourth where it kept the game close, but back-to-back aces from Michieletto gave the Italians a 13-10 advantage which they managed to protect to prevail.
An ace from Daniele Lavia capped the victory for the Italians.
Gianluca Galassi also starred for Italy with 12 points, including four blocks, while Lavia and Roberto Russo contributed 10 and seven points, respectively.
“Brazil is a very strong team and one of the best in the world. We were focused because we need points, we need victory to go into the final phase in Poland, so we need this victory but we knew that Brazil is a long and competitive team. We pushed at the beginning but they played very well. We came back and played better volleyball and then we won especially,” said team captain and setter Giannelli Simone.
“We’re very happy for this win. We needed this for our standings. We’re just glad that we were able to get back after losing the first set,” added Romano.
Brazil, which absorbed its third loss in nine matches, drew strength from Henrique Honorato and Ricardo Souza’s 15 and 11 points, but the Italians were too much to handle.
Gualberto Resende also scored 10 points for Brazil in a losing effort.
While the Brazilians dominated in attacks, 59-50, the Italians banked on their strong serves with 13 aces compared to Brazil’s three. Italy also managed seven blocks compared to Brazil’s only four.
Contributing to Brazil’s downfall was their 28 woeful errors, including 10 in the second set alone.
Next up for Italy will be Canada on Thursday, while Brazil will battle Netherlands also on the same day.
