Italy recorded their first victory during the second tournament of the Volleyball Nations League in Ljubljana, after defeating Brazil 3:1 (25:19, 25:23, 22:25, 25:23). After two consecutive defeats to Ukraine and Bulgaria, the world champions showed a completely different face and achieved a valuable success against one of their direct competitors.
With this victory, the "Azzurri" now have 4 wins and 13 points, climbing to fifth place in the VNL temporary standings, displacing Brazil, which remains sixth with 4 wins and 11 points. The Italians also added 6.23 points to their world ranking, where they continue to hold second place.
Ferdinando De Giorgi's team started the match impressively and won the first two sets with very aggressive serving and solid blocking. The Italians dictated the pace from the very beginning, and Brazil struggled to find a solution against the Europeans' strong initial attack.
In the third set, Bernardinho made changes to the lineup that yielded results. The Brazilians stabilized their attack and managed to reduce the deficit after 25:22.
The fourth set offered real drama. The South Americans took a convincing 12:5 lead and seemed close to a tie-break, but Italy orchestrated an impressive comeback. Thanks to their strong serving run and several key blocks, the "Azzurri" turned the score around to 21:19, and then closed out the match 25:23.
Bovolenta was the top scorer for the winners with 20 points, while Mattia Bottolo added 19. For Brazil, Lucarelli scored 18 points, while Judson finished with 12.
| Team | Attack | Block | Serve | Points from opponent's errors | Total points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 48 | 11 | 2 | 28 | 89 |
| Italy | 56 | 8 | 9 | 23 | 96 |
Italy compensated for their deficit in blocking with a huge advantage in serving. The nine aces against only two for Brazil proved decisive, and the "Azzurri" also scored eight more points in attack, which tilted the scales in their favor despite the opponent's greater number of block points.
| Indicator | Brazil | Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Digs | 69 | 64 |
| Reception | 72 | 77 |
| Organized attacks | 106 | 114 |
Although Brazil was more active in defense, Italy demonstrated higher quality reception and better organization in setting. This allowed the Europeans to maintain high attack efficiency throughout most of the match and to achieve an impressive comeback in the fourth set.
photo:volleyballworld.com
