Italian Volleyball loses to Brazil in tie break
The Italian men's national team suffered its second defeat in the 2025 VNL, at the Now Arena in Chicago, in fact, the Azzurri were defeated in the tie break 2-3 (22-25, 25-21, 31-33, 25-17, 13-15) by Brazil , at the end of a hard-fought match played with an open face by both teams.
Giannelli and his teammates will return to the court at the Now Arena when they close out Week 2 in the US against the hosts, the United States.
Italy-Brazil - Volleyball in Chicago (@federvolley)
The Chronicle. For the third match of Pool 5, Coach De Giorgi fielded the sextet with Giannelli as setter, Romanò opposite hitter, Galassi and Gargiulo in the middle, Michieletto and Lavia as spikers and Balaso as libero. On the other side of the net, Brazilian Coach Bernardinho Rezende fielded Fernando as setter, Alan opposite hitter, Flavio and Judson as middle blockers, Bergmann and Honorato as spikers and Maique as libero. The start of the first set was Italian: thanks to a good service shift, the Azzurri immediately took a 4-1 lead. As the minutes passed, however, Brazil, led by Bergmann and Honorato, also began to put down heavy balls, bringing the match back to a tie at 7-7. The match immediately increased in intensity, with continuous alternations in the lead (9-8, 11-10) until the 13-all signed by Giannelli. The point-to-point battle continued and at (22-23) Porro entered the field in place of Galassi, but Brazil, who in the meantime also brought on Darlan, maintained the advantage and closed the set on the first set point at 25-22.
Intense start in the second set , with the pace of the game already very high. Balance characterized the first exchanges (3-3), but shortly after it was Brazil who took the lead and momentarily took control of the operations. With Romanò serving, however, Italy reacted: two consecutive aces from the Italian opposite hitter were worth the overtaking (8-6) which then increased to 11-7. In the final stages, Italy wisely managed the advantage and the change of ball gained by Michieletto at 24-19 was the prelude to the winning block by Daniele Lavia, who closed the set at 25-21.
Third set intense and fought with Brazil finding the first advantage +2 (5-3) and then Italy good with Romanò to find the equalizer immediately (5-5). Later Alan on one side and Michieletto on the other bring the game to 8-8. The game channels itself on the point to point that becomes tight (17-17) until Italy finds the +3 (21-18) and after having had three set points the score arrives at 24 all. The heart-stopping advantages were resolved in the end by Brazil who takes home the set with the score of 33-31.In the fourth set, Italy confirms the sextet of the first three partials. The start is balanced with the two teams always in contact, but in the next phase the Azzurri manage to take a margin of advantage taking on +3 (8-5). De Giorgi gives space to Cortesia who enters in place of Gargiulo at the center.
At this stage, Italy appears to be in control of the field and consistently extends the lead to 15-9. Brazil, on the other hand, is experiencing a moment of stagnation and not even the entry of Darlan is able to give a real jolt to Rezende's team. Once again, the good level of play expressed allows Giannelli and his teammates to dig a deep furrow (+8, 20-12), an advantage then managed until the final 25-17 closed by a winning attack by Michieletto.The fifth set had the same intensity as the previous one, but Brazil started off on the right foot. The Verdeoro gained more confidence as the action went on and went up 4 (7-3) forcing De Giorgi to call a time out. The winning ace from Porro, who had just come in, partially closed the gap with Italy coming within 2 points of Brazil (7-9), then a winning block from the Azzurri (8-9). The Azzurri then found the equaliser at 12-12 with a winning block from Lavia. In the end, however, it was Brazil who found the last bit of energy needed to take home the match and set (15-13).
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