The first match of the FIPAV Cup Men Elite in Reggio Calabria became historic for world volleyball. Germany won the first set against Italy with an incredible 66:64, and the total of 130 points played is a new world record for a single set.
The historic set lasted 1 hour and 29 minutes, with both teams having numerous opportunities to close it before the Germans finally reached 66:64. The German Volleyball Federation declared the achievement a world record, and Italian media also noted it as the highest-scoring set in history.
The new achievement comes just two months after another remarkable record at the national team level. On June 28, Argentina and Poland reached 50:48 in a set of the Nations League, or a total of 98 points. At that time, Volleyball World reported it as a record for national teams. Now Italy and Germany have raised the bar by another 32 points.
Interestingly, after the historic marathon, the Germans took a 1:0 lead, but Italy eventually managed to make a comeback and win the match 3:2 (64:66, 25:22, 23:25, 25:22, 15:12).
Germany also led 2:1 in sets after taking the third set 25:23. However, the Italians equalized after 25:22 in the fourth set, and in the tie-break, they prevailed 15:12.
The top scorer for the winners was Luca Porro with 20 points, and Daniele Lavia added 17. Mattia Bottolo and Kamil Rychlicki finished with 14 points each. For Germany, Moritz Karlitzek scored 20, Anton Brehme – 17, and Moritz Reich and Tobias Brand added 18 each. Alessandro Michieletto did not play.
The marathon match lasted a total of 3 hours and 29 minutes and was watched by about 4400 spectators at the "PalaCalafiore" in Reggio Calabria.
Italy recorded 15 blocks against 7 for Germany, while the Germans had a slight advantage in direct points from serves – 7 against 5. The serve logically also brought a huge number of errors in such a prolonged match – 34 for Italy and 31 for Germany.
The tournament is part of Italy's preparation for EuroVolley 2026. The next opponent for the "Azzurri" is Cuba on August 28 at 8:00 PM in Messina, and on August 30 at 9:00 PM, Ferdinando De Giorgi's team will face Brazil.
photo:federvolley.it
