Italy Sweeps Japan 3-0 In Front of Capacity Crowd to Open World Champs

  0 Braden Keith | September 09th, 2018 | Asian Volleyball, European volleyball, International Volleyball, News

2018 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championships – Preliminary Pool A

  • September 9th-18th, 2018
  • Foro Italico Center Court, Rome, Italy
  • Preliminary Pool A

Italy kicked off the 2018 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship with a significant 3-0 win over a scrappy Japanese team, outdoors, in the Foro Italico.

#4 Italy def. #12 Japan 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-23)

Italy out-blocked Japan 9-1 in an otherwise even match to sweep Japan in the first result of the tournament. The match is also the only outdoor match of the tournament, played at the center tennis court at the Foro Italico. The arena, typically used for clay court tennis, has a listed capacity of 10,400, but 11,170 filled the arena to capacity on Sunday, pulling in €269,471 (311,306 USD) in gate receipts.

6 players contributed to Italy’s blocking effort, including 2 each from Ivan ZaytsevDaniele Mazzone, and Simone Anzani.

Zaytsev led all players with 13 points (9 kills, 2 blocks, 2 aces), followed by Osmany Juantorena and Filippo Lanza with 11 each. Italy hit a whopping 63.2% in the match (43/68). Japan hit just 44.8%, stifled by the Italian block.

Issei Otake led Japan with 11 points, including 9 kills on 17 swings, 1 ace, and the only Japanese block in the match.

Pool A Standings After Day 1

Matches Pts Sets Points
Rank Team W L W L Ratio W L Ratio
1  Italy 1 0 3 3 0 MAX 75 64 1.172
2  Japan 0 1 0 0 3 0.000 64 75 0.853
3  Argentina 0 0 0 0 0 MAX 0 0 MAX
3  Belgium 0 0 0 0 0 MAX 0 0 MAX
3  Dominican Republic 0 0 0 0 0 MAX 0 0 MAX
3  Slovenia 0 0 0 0 0 MAX 0 0 MAX

Schedule & Results

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
12 Sep 17:00 Dominican Republic   Slovenia 0–0
12 Sep 20:30 Belgium   Argentina 0–0
13 Sep 17:00 Dominican Republic   Japan 0–0
13 Sep 21:15 Italy   Belgium 0–0
14 Sep 17:00 Japan   Slovenia 0–0
14 Sep 20:30 Argentina   Dominican Republic 0–0
15 Sep 17:00 Belgium   Slovenia 0–0
15 Sep 21:15 Italy   Argentina 0–0
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

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About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of VolleyMob.com. Braden's first foray into sports journalism came in 2010, when he launched a swimming website called The Swimmers' Circle. Two years later, he joined SwimSwam.com as a co-founder. Long huge fans of volleyball, when Braden and the SwimSwam partners sought an opportunity to …

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