Italy’s Yuri Romano against Japan in the Volleyball Nations League (VNL). –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Italy gained a confidence booster in the biggest way possible after league-leading Japan, 29-27, 28-26, 23-25, 25-20, in the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Saturday night.
After ten straight wins in the VNL, Ryujin Nippon bowed to the Italians in a competitive four-setter and Yuri Romano saw it as a huge source of confidence heading forward.
“We have a lot of confidence [now], we even improved during the game… It’s a very good win for us,” Romano said after finishing with 22 points.
“It’s (win) very amazing, it was a great match and we played very well. Japan is a very strong team so we’re very happy.”
The Italians’ 2-0 lead did not come easy with the extended first and second sets before the Japanese showed signs of life to force a fourth set.
Italy celebrates a point against Japan in the Volleyball Nations League (VNL). –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
With the score knotted up at 19-all, Yuji Nishida became Ryujin Nippon’s hero that began a set-winning 6-4 blitz courtesy of a successful crosscourt kill.
The final set, however, was all Italy. And this time, it was the Italians that pulled away from a 19-all deadlock to seal the victory.
Gianluca Galassi, Daniele Lavia and Romano took matters into their own hands, scoring the last six points for Italy while holding the Japanese to only a point.
Lavia and Alessandro Michieletto registered 18 and 14 points, respectively, for Italy, which now holds a 9-3 record.
Yuki Ishikawa collected 21 markers for Japan while Nishida tallied 20 to his name in a losing effort.