VTAM - EUROPEAN TOUR MATCH REPORT v ITALY
Friday 4/5/2012 – Monza, Italy
VTAM V ITALY
RESULT 0 : 3 (14-25, 17-25, 22-25)
The Australian Men’s Volleyball Team have continued their Olympic Qualification preparation with a friendly match against the world number 4 team of Italy.
Australia welcomed Adam White and their captain Igor Yudin to the court for the first time this campaign and were in good spirits leading into the match. The Italians tried to exhort their dominance early with some strong blocking and big serving but the Australians matched their opponents and went to the first technical time out down 7:8. The Italians came out firing after the break and put a string of points together through some big blocking at the net and cruised to an 11-16 lead at the second time out. A couple of quick points from the Italians saw head coach Jon Uriarte call a time out at 11-18 asking the players to ‘bring some aggression’ to the match. Jon’s passionate talk stirred something in our boys as they won the next two points and looked like we were turning things around. The Italians responded well and closed out the set with a dominant display of quality attacking, winning 14-25.
The second set started much like the first with the Aussies showing plenty of energy and desperation in defence which was supported by the accurate hitting from their captain Igor Yudin. Our boys went into the first technical time out down 6:8. The second period was punctuated by service errors by both teams but it was the heavy, accurate hitting of the Italians that saw them go into the second technical time out with an 11:16 lead. The service errors from both teams continued in the final period of the set. Australia worked hard in defence lead by Libero Aden Tutton who has been outstanding for the Aussies over all three games so far. The Aussies fought hard to get back into the set but again, the Italians had too big a lead and they took the second set comfortably, 17-25.
The Aussies started slowly in the third set with the Italian’s taking an early 4 point lead into the first technical time out (4:8). Our boys stepped up a gear after the break and went blow for blow with the heavy hitting Italians lead by Nathan Roberts, who was injected into the game in the middle of the second set, and Igor Yudin. Australia showed some good variation in their attack using middle blocker Travis Passier on the quick attack and improving the accuracy in both passing and hitting. The Aussies went into the second technical timeout down 15:16. The final period went point for point with Australia taking the lead 22-21 through another good block from Aidan Zingel. The senior players of the Italian team stepped up and closed out the match with some exceptional attacking and heavy serving from captain Cristian Savani clocked at 124 km/hr which the Aussies struggled to deal with.
Our boys head back to their ‘home away from home’ at the AIS European Training Centre (ETC) now for a 5 day camp before travelling to Poland and the Netherlands for a series of friendly matches. All the details on the qualification process, results and other news can be found at the Road to London section of the AVF website.
TEAM STATISTICS
SERVE 1 Aces, 16 Errors, Proficiency 1.35
RECEPTION Proficiency 1.98, 40% Perfect, 3 Errors.
ATTACK 41% Kill, 23% Error, 17% Kill Efficiency
BLOCK 2 Stuff Blocks, 14 Control Blocks.
DEFENCE 18 Controlled Digs.
