Italy And Slovenia Move To 3-0 In Pool A

2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship

• 9–30 September
• Schedule
• Teams
• Power Rankings
• Pool A – Preliminary Phase – Day 1; Day 2;Day 3
• Nelson Mandela Forum at Florence, Italy

Day 4 of the WCH had something special reserved for Italian fans, as legendary coach Julio Velasco, who led Italy’s national team to two World Championship gold medals (1990 and 1994) would be at the opposite side of the net this time around, coaching Argentina. The Argentine born Italian coach reminded fans of his greatness, as his much weaker Argentina team put up a huge fight against the powerful Italian squad. Here is the day’s recap:

#4 Italy Defeated #7 Argentina 3-1 (22/25, 25/15, 25/23, 28/26)

• Italy moves to 3-0 while Argentina moves to 1-2
• Attendance: 8260
• P2 Stats-Sheet 

Argentina got off to a storming start and was able to steal away the first set from Italy thanks to Cristian Poglajen‘s 8 points. The second set was a no contest, as Italy got off to an early lead and never looked back. The last two sets of the match were heavily contested and could’ve gone either way. The stats also showed that both teams were very even. Luckily for Italy, it had more than 8000 fans in the stand driving it on, which made all the difference. Osmany Juantorena led the way with 23 points, followed by Ivan Zaytsev with 20, Poglajen had 18 in the losing effort.

Post match reactions are yet to be released by the FIVB.

Match Point Ace!! Italy's 🇮🇹 #4 Michele Baranowicz comes in & delivers the perfect serve to win it! Nothing Argentina 🇦🇷 could do on that! #FIVBMensWCH #volleyball #volleyballWCHs @Federvolley pic.twitter.com/FOpHTm6dcr

— Volleyball World (@FIVBVolleyball) September 15, 2018

Italy's 🇮🇹 #5 Osmany Juantorena (@osmanijp5) wanted to hear the fans after this great spike that stretched their lead early in the 4th on Argentina 🇦🇷! #FIVBMensWCH #volleyball #volleyballWCHs @Federvolley pic.twitter.com/cnfKaibtsd

— Volleyball World (@FIVBVolleyball) September 15, 2018

What a big, big ace! Italy's 🇮🇹 #6 Simone Giannelli (@Gian__9) with a brilliant serve & there's no way that's being returned by Argentina 🇦🇷! #FIVBMensWCH #volleyball #volleyballWCHs @Federvolley pic.twitter.com/nCPHKhwGmj

— Volleyball World (@FIVBVolleyball) September 15, 2018

#23 Slovenia Defeated #15 Belgium 3-2 (25/22, 25/21, 19/25, 23/25, 13/15)

• Slovenia moves to 3-0 while Belgium moves to 1-2
• Attendance: 5815
• P2 – Stats-Sheet

Slovenia came back from behind 0-2 to net win against Belgium in front of almost 6 thousand spectators. After falling behind in the game and facing defeat, Slovenian coach Slobodan Kovac subbed in Alen Šket and Gregor Ropret into the game. It worked, as Alen hit an unbelievable 21/24 (88%) for the match. He was helped in the score by Tine Urnaut, who finished with 18 points. Bram Dries had 18 points in the losing effort.

Here are the post match reactions:

Slovenia’s coach Slobodan Kovac: “This is a great victory! At the  beginning of the match, I told those of my players sitting on the bench that the important player is the one who finishes the game, not the one who starts. It is a team victory, especially since at 0-2, many people thought it was going to end soon, but we improved our performance above all in serve, block and defence.”

Slovenia’s Captain Tine Urnaut: “I am so happy, because we came back from 0-2, and my teammates who took to the court later in the match showed that they deserved to play. They helped so much; it is a very important victory.”

Belgium’s Sam Deroo: “It was a tough game, as we are close to each other’s level. We started fresher than they were but they are a very well balanced team with a great roster. Their substitutes made the difference; congratulations to them. It could have been a 3-0 victory for us. However, everything is still possible but we cannot afford to lose any more points in any other match of the pool.”

Belgium’s head coach Andrea Anastasi: “First of all congratulations to Slovenia, because they improved their level during the match. We did not take advantage of some positive situations and we made stupid mistakes; and when you do that, you lose. They had a better attitude and more desire to win.”

Check the highlights of Slovenia's 🇸🇮 amazing 2-3 (25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 23-25, 13-15) comeback win over Belgium 🇧🇪! Slovenia now 3-0 in #FIVBMensWCH Pool A! #volleyball #volleyballWCHs @SloVolley pic.twitter.com/I4EiEeKDFf

— Volleyball World (@FIVBVolleyball) September 15, 2018

WOW!! 😲 Slovenia's 🇸🇮 #4 Jan Kozamernik (@kozica8) with the great pancake save off the Belgium 🇧🇪 net serve, quickly followed by the big spike by #5 Alen Pajenk (@AlenPajenk)! #FIVBMensWCH #volleyball #volleyballWCHs @SloVolley pic.twitter.com/Kag8KE8dWW

— Volleyball World (@FIVBVolleyball) September 15, 2018

Big finish, for the set!! #3 Sam Deroo (@samderoo) flies in for the massive spike from the back to clinch the 2nd set for Belgium 🇧🇪 against Slovenia 🇸🇮! #FIVBMensWCH #volleyball #volleyballWCHs @belreddragons pic.twitter.com/KvCo5Pu9JO

— Volleyball World (@FIVBVolleyball) September 15, 2018

Denied! A scrambling rally between Belgium 🇧🇪 & Slovenia 🇸🇮 is brought to a quick end by #1 Bram Van den Dries (@BramVdD02)! Big point for Belgium as they won the 1st! #FIVBMensWCH #volleyball #volleyballWCHs @belreddragons pic.twitter.com/eIdQY3fNL5

— Volleyball World (@FIVBVolleyball) September 15, 2018

Pool A Standings

		Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team	W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Italy	3	0	9	9	1	9.000	250	206	1.214
2	Slovenia	3	0	8	9	4	2.250	302	251	1.203
3	Belgium	1	2	4	5	7	0.714	255	265	0.962
4	Argentina	1	2	3	5	6	0.833	247	251	0.984
5	Japan	1	2	3	4	6	0.667	217	224	0.969
6	Dominican Republic	0	3	0	1	9	0.111	174	248	0.702

Results and Schedule

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
9 Sep	19:30	Italy	3–0	Japan	25–20	25–21	25–23			75–64	P2 Report
12 Sep	17:00	Dominican Republic	1–3	Slovenia	25–22	13–25	13–25	17–25		68–97	P2 Report
12 Sep	20:30	Belgium	3–1	Argentina	25–19	25–19	22–25	25–19		97–82	P2 Report
13 Sep	17:00	Dominican Republic	0–3	Japan	20–25	16–25	16–25			52–75	P2 Report
13 Sep	21:15	Italy	3–0	Belgium	25–20	25–17	25–16			75–53	P2 Report
14 Sep	17:00	Japan	1–3	Slovenia	20–25	25–22	20–25	13–25		78–97	P2 Report
14 Sep	20:30	Argentina	3–0	Dominican Republic	26–24	25–15	25–15			76–54	P2 Report
15 Sep	17:00	Belgium	2–3	Slovenia	25–22	25–21	19–25	23–25	13–15	105–108	P2 Report
15 Sep	21:15	Italy	3–1	Argentina	22–25	25–15	25–23	28–26		100–89	P2 Report
16 Sep	17:00	Japan	–	Belgium	–	–	–			0–0
16 Sep	21:15	Dominican Republic	–	Italy	–	–	–			0–0
17 Sep	17:00	Belgium	–	Dominican Republic	–	–	–			0–0
17 Sep	20:30	Argentina	–	Slovenia	–	–	–			0–0
18 Sep	17:00	Japan	–	Argentina	–	–	–			0–0
18 Sep	21:15	Italy	–	Slovenia	–	–	–			0–0