The 2023 CEV European Women's Volleyball Championship got underway today at the Arena di Verona in Italy, marking the return of top volleyball to this iconic venue after 35 years.
Italy got their EuroVolley 2023 campaign off to a great start on home soil after winning the first game of Pool B against Romania 3-0.
Davide Mazzanti started the game with superstar Paola Egonu from the bench, with captain Myriam Sylla who drove the Azzurre to a good start in the first set, together with middle blocker Anna Danesi and outside hitter Ekaterina Antropova. It was the captain who sealed the last point of first set 25-19 for Italy.
In second set, Romania resisted until 5-5, then the Italian team stepped up again, showed their talent and forcing the Romanian head coach to call a timeout on 13-7. The Azzurre maintained their lead during the entire second set, with some up and downs for Italy and with a couple of good plays by Romania. It was Alice Degradi who stepped up after coming from the bench, wrapping up the second set with a powerful crosscourt to give Italy a 2-0 lead (25-19).
In the third set, Romania started 2-0 and the game remained balanced until 10-10. However, Italy's spikers managed a number of impressive plays to help give Italy the decisive break to lead 19-13. Italy finished the third set 25-15 with a final spike of Ekaterina Antropova, to clinch the victory.
During the entire game, Italy was in full control, containing the attacks and the serves of the Romania, while stepping up in the right moments to claim a well-deserved win.
Alice Degradi, who came off the bench in the first and second set, was an impressive impact player to help lead the Italy national team to victory in decisive moments.
In the end the 27-year-old spiker scored 12 points, with a strong 67% rating in attack.
The best scorer of the game was Ekaterina Antropova with 13 points. For Romania, the best scorer was Adelina Budai-Ungureanu with 12 points.
It was a great night at the Arena di Verona, with almost 9,000 enthusiastic fans cheering on the teams to ensure an incredible atmosphere.
“It’s crazy here, we were so emotional for this match, we saw all the people here to see us play, we were so excited for this. We have to play how we know, expressing our potential at the best, we did it and I’m so happy,” said Alice Degradi, Italy's outside hitter.
Source : fivb.com
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