Praia Clube bid farewell to their dream of winning a medal in their debut participation at the Men's FIVB Volleyball Club World Championship. On home ground, the team from Uberlândia suffered their second defeat on Wednesday (12.11) in the 'Sabiazinho' arena against Civitanova with a score of 0:3 (18:25, 19:25, and 26:28). The result left the hosts in last place in Group A, without points after two rounds. The Italians, meanwhile, recovered from their loss in the first match against Foolad Sirjan and took second place with four points.
Having left behind the industrial quantity of service errors from the first match, Civitanova built their victory precisely from the service line, systematically troubling Preturlon Ribeiro's team and capitalizing on Praia's faulty reception in the first two sets, before gritting their teeth after the drop in the third set.On Friday, Civitanova will face Egyptian Al Ahly in a direct clash for a place in the semifinals.The position (first or second place) will also depend on the result of the Foolad - Praia match, which will be played tomorrow.Alex Nikolov finished as the top scorer with 16 points (65% attack efficiency, 2 aces, and 1 block).Gargiulo (11) and Lagumdzija (10) also had double-digit scores. For Praia, the most effective were opposite Franco (11) and middle blocker Pietro (10). Despite the slump in the third set, Civitanova finished with higher stats in all elements, partly due to stable reception throughout most of the match.
ALEX NIKOLOV: "A very important victory that definitely puts us back in the race after our debut defeat against the team from Iran. I really liked how we reacted after yesterday's failure, in the first two sets we gave nothing to our opponents today, who, among other things, practically played at home. In the third set, we relaxed a bit, but fortunately, we managed well in the end. To return to Civitanova with the title, we have to win all remaining matches; this evening was just the first stage."
Group A - Group Standings after Day 2
Foolad Sirjan Iranian (IRI) 5 points, 2 wins
Cucine Lube Civitanova 4 points, 1 win and 1 loss
Al Ahly (EGY) 3 points, 1 win and 1 loss
Praia Clube (BRA) 0 points, 2 losses
Program for Day 3 in Group A – Sabiazinho Arena in Uberlândia
Friday, December 13, 5:00 PM Brazilian time (10:00 PM Bulgarian time)
Praia Clube (BRA) – Foolad Sirjan Iranian (IRI)
Friday, December 13, 8:30 PM Brazilian time (1:30 AM Saturday Bulgarian time)
Cucine Lube Civitanova – Al Ahly (EGY)
MATCH STATS
Praia Clube - Cucine Lube Civitanova 0-3 (18-25, 19-25, 26-28)
PRAIA: Arthur did not play, Walaph did not play, Gustavo, Franco 11, Lucas Ló 6, Rech, Pietro 10, Temponi did not play, Aladdin did not play, Eliezer 4, Maicon 8, Pedro (L), Rafa 3, Bruno Alves. Head coach: Preturlon Ribeiro
CIVITANOVA: Chinenyeze 6, Gargiulo 11, Loeppky did not play, Orduna, Bisotto (L), Balaso (L), Boninfante 2, Porya 1, Nikolov 16, Lagumdzija 10, Dirlic, Podrascanin did not play, Bottolo 9, Tenorio did not play. Head coach: Medei.
Notes: game durations 22', 23', 29'. Total 1h 14'. Praia: service errors 14, aces 3, blocks 1, attack efficiency 49%, reception 31% (11%). Civitanova: service errors 14, aces 6, blocks 3, attack efficiency 57%, reception 58% (29%).
