The French players celebrate
Giulio Sabbi was the top scorer in the match with 18 points, while Marien Moreau led France with 16. Italy had the edge in blocking points 7-2, but France outserved them 6-2. France committed only 10 errors against 21 for the Italians.
France were generally better organised that the Italians, but the first set was still a nail-biter, with the two teams level at 24-24. But Moreau came up with the goods for France, while Italy weren’t helped by errors, and France went 1-0 up.
Both teams were striking the ball well in the second set, but France had the edge in defence. Setter Benjamin Toniutti kept his attackers well fed and Moreau and Jose Trefle made the most of his supply of goodies, winning the set by a 10-point margin.
The third set was different. Sabbi and Filippo Lanza got Italy off to a good start before France drew level at 10-10 after good work by Trefle and Edouard Rowlandson. Superior defence and good serving kept France on top despite the efforts of Sabbi and Lanza. Italian errors also proved critical and France clinched the set 25-22 and the match 3-0.
