Italy Continues Dominating Pool A Run With Win Against The Dominicans

  0 Liam Smith | September 16th, 2018 | International Volleyball, News

2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship

Italy had no trouble whatsoever to extend its Pool A record to 4-0 against the much weaker Dominican squad, in what was one of the most one-sided games of the tournament so far. Meanwhile, Belgium beat Japan for the first time in a world-level senior competition. Here is the day’s recap:

Italy Defeated The Dominican Republic 3-0 (25/12, 25/18, 25/15)

  • Italy moves to 4-0 while The Dominican Republic moves to 0-4
  • Attendance: 7500
  • P2 Stats-Sheet

In one of the most lopsided games of the tournament so far, hosts Italy defeated the weak Dominicans squad 3-0 in front of almost 8000 home supporters. The Italian squad dominated the game in all of its facets, outblocking its opponent 8-2, scoring 11 aces to 1, and hitting 61% to 38%. Osmany Juantorena led the way with 17 points while Henry Capellan scored 12 points in the losing effort.

Here are the post match reactions:

DR’s coach Josè Gutierrez: “First of all I wish to congratulate Italy and wish it all the luck for the second round. We had an experience here. Some of my kids had only seen the Italian stars on tv before, so it was not easy to fight face to face. We are still working towards our future.”

DR’s captain Antonio Lopez: “We did our best, we improved every day. We are here for this. I’m happy with some spikes of mine which succeeded against The Italian block”.

Italy’s head coach Gianlorenzo Blengini: “Every single match is important for our path in the tournament, not just for Pool A. Some matches are technically harder than others, however all of them give us the chance to gain the same three points. Under this point of view we played a great game”.

Italy’s Simone Giannelli: “Fourth victory in a row, that’s very good. After a match like yesterday’s, there could be a loss of mental stamina, however we controlled the game. On Tuesday we are going to play with Slovenia and it’s important to win as many points as possible for the second phase”.

Belgium Defeated Japan 3-1 (14-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-19)

  • Belgium moves to 2-2 while Japan moves to 1-3
  • Attendance: 4250
  • P2 Stats-Sheet

The Belgium squad overcame a horrid 14-25 first set defeat to come back and hand Japan a 3-1 defeat, much largely in thanks to it stingy defensive game. Bram Dries led the way with 18 points and was 1 of 4 Belgians in double figures, while Yuji Nishida scored 20 points in the losing effort. Belgium finished the game with a 12-5 blocking edge against its opponent.

Here are the post game reactions:

Belgium’s coach Andrea Anastasi: “It is a very important victory because it opens the door to Bologna, and that was our goal. We had a very complicated series of matches, whilst tomorrow the last one versus the Dominican Republic should be quite affordable. My players started this match very nervous after yesterday’s intense game with Slovenia, but once they relaxed, they delivered a good team performance.”

Belgium’s captain Sam Deroo: “After yesterday’s tough game, at the beginning we did not find the energy to answer to Japan’s great service in the first set. After that, we found a way to react and showed great fighting spirit. We played two long and tough matches in two days, physically very intense, and it was important to take these three points.”

Japan’s head coach Yuichi Nakagaichi: “We played an excellent first set with great service, then the team went down and we did not have enough stamina.”

Japan’s captain Masahiro Yanagida: “After the first set it seemed to be an easy game for us, but later Belgium improved while the quality of our performance went down. The day after tomorrow we have to win versus Argentina.”

Pool A Standings

Matches Pts Sets Points
Rank Team W L W L Ratio W L Ratio
1  Italy 4 0 12 12 1 12.000 325 251 1.295
2  Slovenia 3 0 8 9 4 2.250 302 251 1.203
3  Belgium 2 2 7 8 8 1.000 344 346 0.994
4  Argentina 1 2 3 5 6 0.833 247 251 0.984
5  Japan 1 3 3 5 9 0.556 298 313 0.952
6  Dominican Republic 0 4 0 1 12 0.083 219 323 0.678

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  1–3  Belgium 25–14 23–25 14–25 19–25 81–89 P2 Report
16 Sep 21:15 Dominican Republic  0–3  Italy 12–25 18–25 15–25 45–75 P2 Report
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

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