Italy-Czech Republic
Following the 25-16, 25-19, 25-17 victory, 2011 runner-up Italy sailed to a 5-0 record after conclusion of Pool I play. The Czech Republic drop to a 2-3 win-loss record and are out of contention for the decisive top eight phase of the tournament.
Czech Michaela Mlejnkova was the best scorer of the match with 14 points. The best Italian spiker Sara Bonifacio had 10 kills. Aided by fives service aces, the “squadra azzurra” opened the first set with a 16-12 lead. As the match went to, the two hard-hitting teams exchanged powerful spikes but Italy managed to hold onto the lead firmly until the end of the set.
The young Czechs hit better form in the opening stage of the second set and were 16-14 up at the second technical break. From then on, however, the match turned into a lopsided affair as the Italian duo Sofia D’Odorico and Anna Danesi outfoxed their opponents with an array of bullet-like spikes and solid block work.
The third set was a similar situation as the East Europeans could only put up a fight in the beginning. When the upcoming Italian stars were 24-17 in front, Giulia Angelina delivered a cross-court spike from back row for the winner.
Italy head coach Luca Pieragnoli: “I am satisfied with the game my girls showed. We played very well and this is the style I want to see until the end of the tournament. We were focused and our concentration was on a high level.”
Italy captain Ofelia Malinov: “The end of the tournament is approaching and we are happy to start the final phase. We played well on all positions today, but I must point out that our blockers did a great job.”
The Czech Republic head coach Leos Chalupa: “In my opinion Italy is a very strong team and they deserve to battle for the medals. We played very badly tonight, finishing fifth in our Pool. We’ll stay a couple of days here in Bar and enjoy the final stage of the tournament.”
The Czech Republic captain Pavlina Simanova: “We couldn’t find any solutions to overcome the strong Italian blockers. It is hard to finish like that.”
To read more news from this competition click on Youth European Championship 2013 F.
