Italy defeated Germany 3:2 (25-19, 25-22, 20-25, 20-25, 15-7) in the historic first international match played on the ASB GlassFloor at BMW Park, Munich.
The "Azzurri" breezed through the first two sets, aided by a powerful block and flawless serving from setter Mattia Boninfante. To the thunderous applause of the home crowd, the Germans brought the intrigue back \u2013 Philipp John was devastating the Italian defense, and Maase, who came off the bench, injected crucial energy to level the score at 2:2. In the tie-break, Boninfante served a series of float serves, an ace from Sanguinetti raised the temperature, and Alessandro Bovolenta closed the set with a back-row attack to bring Italy the triumph. John finished as the top scorer in the match (16 points), but the MVP award went to the German Maase.
The match was also special for three "Azzurri"
Mattia Boninfante, Kamil Rychlicki, and Giovanni Gargiulo, who made their senior national team debut. Boninfante and Gargiulo are teammates with Bulgarian talent Alex Nikolov at the club giant Lube Civitanova.
After the exhibition in Munich, the teams will hold a joint training session, and Italy will test its form against Iran on May 30 in Cavalese and on May 31 in Padua ("Pasinato Memorial").
Italy:Boninfante 4, Luca Porro 12, Anzani 5, Rychlicki 11, Sani 12, Gargiulo 7, Laurenzano (libero); entered Romano, Bovolenta 8, Sanguinetti 6, Recine 6, Bottolo 4. Did not play Porro P., Cortesia, Gardini, Caneschi, Pace. Coach: Ferdinando De Giorgi.
Germany:Kunstmann, Burggraf 1, Mochwinkel 12, Torwie 12, John 16, Rohrs 11, Graven (libero); entered Peter, Maase 5, Malescha 4, Eckrdt, Hosch, Meier 1. Did not play Zimmermann, Krage, Korek. Coach: Michal Winiarski.
Set durations: 27, 29, 27, 31, 14 min.
Statistics
Italy: aces 9, attack points 26, block 11, errors 36;
Germany: aces 6, attack points 25, block 9, errors 30.
