28-Nov, start time: 12:30, end time: 13:45 - Attendance: 1,550

USA	0	12	27	22	-	-	61
ITA	3	25	29	25	-	-	79

Match Description:

Italy triumphs in third place clash
In an epic battle between two sides who have registered only one defeat in the 2003 Men's World Cup, Italy proved too powerful for USA as they recorded their eighth win of the tournament in Tokyo on Friday.

Both sides were desperate for victory to maintain their charge towards a ticket to the 2004 Olympics through a top-three finish but it was the European champions who had just a smidgen more class than the champions from NORCECA.

The first set is one USA would rather forget as the power and finesse of the Italian side was evident from the first serve. Italy's star offensive weapon and MIP Andrea Sartoretti was especially prevalent in the early stages, his ace giving Italy a 3-2 lead, before Italy kicked. A super serve from Luigi Mastrangelo gave Italy a four-point break at 8-4 before the lead increased to 14-8. Two blocks and a spike from the 202cm Mastrangelo extended Italy's dominance to 19-10 before Paolo Cozzi's third block of the set finished the proceedings.

Finally USA got going in the second set, opening a 6-4 lead and with referee calls going against the Italians, USA took advantage and began playing like everyone knew they could. Riley Salmon was particularly impressive in offense while a Ryan Millar block extended their lead to 11-7. But up stepped Sartoretti to the service line and with his lethal swinging serves Italy closed to 13-12 before Mastrangelo blocks to level at 14-14. USA tried to shake the Italians through Salmon's attacking arm (eight points for the set) but Italy grabbed the advantage at 26-25 through a Samuele Papi spike before Matej Cernic finished off a monster comeback with a punishing attack.

USA again opened an early lead in the third set at 8-6 but superb Sartoretti aced again to give Italy the lead at 11-10. This cushion was enough for Italy to push home for their sixth straight sets win and give them a great chance of sealing an Olympic ticket against Japan on Saturday.

Comments:

MONTALI, Gianpaolo (ITA Head Coach)
I am happy for the victory. We won not because of our style but of our tactics. The setter built up good offence. We will continue in this way and also in blocking and defense. I know the setter of USA team and his characteristics. We studied how he sets up the ball to the spikers and the courses of their middle blockers' spiking.

SARTORETTI, Andrea (ITA Player)
It was important match for both USA and Italy. I am happy to win by 3-0. We will face two important matches against Japan and SCG so we will do our best to gain point by point. We have strong determination for the championship and that is our team character.

BEAL, Douglas (USA Head Coach)
We started off badly. We had receiving problem earlier. Although we got better later, we could not get the rhythm. We had opportunity to control 2nd and 3rd set, but could not get the opportunities. We will forget about our loss today and play our best for tomorrow.

BALL, Lloy (USA Captain)
Today's match was disappointing. We should have been better and we know we could have played better. Our problem was offense, which was my responsibility. That is why Italy looked much stronger than they really are.

Official Result:

Match statistics (P-2) - PDF