23-Nov, start time: 12:35, end time: 13:48 - Attendance: 4,300

ITA	3	25	25	25	-	-	75
CAN	0	22	19	20	-	-	61

Match Description:

Italy make it five wins from six
European champions Italy recorded their fifth victory from six matches after powering past a brave Canadian side in a tough opening contest in Round Three of the 2003 Men's World Cup in Okayama on Sunday.

The 2003 World League bronze medalists slowly worked up through all the gears in the first set before running at full throttle in sets two and three to hand Canada their fourth loss of the tournament.

It was the underdogs who got off to a great start as captain Scott Koskie served a drooping ace from the opening whistle but MIP Luigi Mastrangelo soon restored order for Italy by firing in two power serves to open up a 13-11 lead.

Italy tried to stretch the gap but Canada held on with great determination in defence before taking the lead at 19-18 when Matej Cernic spiked long for one of the few times. Unfortunately for the North Americans it wasn't long after that Mastrangelo stepped up to the serve line again and put Italy back in front at 23-22. A Paolo Cozzi block and Italy had match point before Cernic finished the set off with his third point of the match.

It was Cernic again, along with the tournament's best server to date Andrea Sartoretti, who helped give Italy an early 6-3 lead in the second set with some power plays from the serve line. It set Italy off on a great run as they opened up a 20-13 lead with Sartoretti particularly effective with his lethal left arm and Cozzi instrumental on the block. Canada finally found some rhythm in the end but a serve long by Fred Winters finished the set and summed up Canada's play.

Sartoretti, with 12 points so far in the match, became increasingly involved at the start of the third set but despite his best efforts Italy couldn't quite shake off Canada with the score at 17-16. Spikes from the left armer and Cernic put them ahead by three and that was what Italy needed to complete the fifth win of the 2003 Men's World Cup.

Comments:

MONTALI, Gianpaolo (ITA Head Coach)
I am very happy to have won this match. I was afraid before this match, because we were not prepared enough to know how Canada would play. We want to continue playing like this in the future games.

SARTORETTI, Andrea (ITA Player)
Every match is important for us. We played well enough to win and I am happy with a 3-0 victory. We will try our best to qualify for the Olympic Games.

DE ROCCO, Stelio (CAN Head Coach)
I am not very happy with the content of this game. They couldn't activate themselves during the match. I was frustrated with our loss although they have good potential.

KOSKIE, Scott (CAN Captain)
Italy is a very strong team. I am a little disappointed with the result of this match, although we did our best. In the first set we got more than 20 points, but we didn't play very well in the last two sets. It was a good experience for us. I'd like to congratulate them.

Official Result:

Match statistics (P-2) - PDF