USA Men fall to Italy 25-22, 27-25, 26-28, 25-21 in World League final round - Articles

VolleyballMag.com offers you the FIVB version of the USA's four-set loss to Poland, which sets up a must-win match on Friday against Brazil. By FIVB.com Kraków, Poland, July 14, 2016 – Irritated after their straight sets defeat on the opening day to Brazil, Italy prevailed over USA in a twisting four-setter (25-22, 27-25, 26-28, 25-21) with Osmany Juantorena scoring a match-high 23 points. History repeated itself - since 2007 USA has not won their opening match in any Final Six tournament and this time it was no different. Matt Anderson did his best with 21 points but it was not enough as Juantorena's impressive performance overshadowed all other efforts to keep Italy's chance's of a spot in the semifinals on Saturday alive. This was the 25th World League meeting between these teams in the World League and Italy now leads the ledger having 13 of these encounters. The Americans opened the match with two technical errors and lacked concentration from the beginning as a feast of faults continued throughout the first part of the game. Aaron Russell twice hit outside the line while referee Heike Kraft whistled for a net touch as Italy led 8-3. United States woke up a moment later, blocking Fillippo Lanza twice, but they still trailed 16-9. Maxwell Holt did his job on the block, stopping Ivan Zaytsev but the Azzurri still had a four-point advantage at 20-16. Eight-time champions Italy, who were angry after yesterday’s loss against Brazil, did not lose control of the set and closed it out 25-22. It...

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