Italy’s Yuri Romano in the VNL Manila leg. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—A more focused Italy pulled the rug from under Brazil, 23-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-21, in the Volleyball Nations League at Mall of Asia Arena on Tuesday.
After going down a 0-1, the Italians pulled a gentleman’s sweep to upset third-ranked Brazil in convincing fashion.
“We knew that Brazil had a long and complete team so we pushed at the beginning but they played very well and we were down 0-1 so we came back and played better volleyball and we won,” Simon Gianelli of Italy said.
“In this level, we need to play with high intensity because if you lose the points and focus, you lose the match so we have to play every point like it’s the last.”
The Italians, who are ranked fourth before the game, pulled away in the third set after being caught in a 1-1 stalemate. With the score tied at 6-all, Italy went on a a 6-1 rally capped off by a Gianluca Galassi block to take a pivotal 12-7 lead.
Italy in the in the VNL Manila leg. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Brazil would then be limited to only eight points until the frame’s end as Italy took the game-changing 2-1 cushion, 25-15.
In a neck-and-neck final set, the Italians showed the same focus they bragged about when the score was tied at 19-all.
Yuri Romano, who top scored for Italy with 20 points, sparked a 3-0 blitz with a crosscourt kill to take a 22-19 advantage.
Daniele Lavia capped the victory with an ace to help Italy improve to a 6-3 record in the VNL. Alessandro Michieletto also helped the Italians’ cause with 17 points.
Brazil, which now holds an identical 6-3 slate, was spearheaded by Henrique Honorato with 15 markers. Ricardo Souza also registered 11 in a losing effort.