Italy achieved their second win of FIVB Volleyball U20 Women’s World Championship 2021 and handed Poland their first defeat on the second day of Pool D action in Kortrijk. However, only later on Saturday, after the fourth set of the spectacular five-set match between Egypt and Belarus, the Italians mathematically secured their spot among the top eight teams for the second stage of the tournament. In an extended tie-breaker, Belarus snatched their first victory to stay in contention for the second place in the pool.
Women u20 2021
Italy advance to top eight of U20 World Champs
Belarus snatch spectacular first win in Kortrijk
Published 09:26, 10 Jul 2021
The Italians clearly dominated the first set, but the Poles delivered an emphatic blowout in the second to level the score. The third set was the most competitive one and it was mainly the Italian blocking that made the difference in a 25-21 win. The rest of the match was all about the southern Europeans, who produced a 25-9 landslide with Linda Nwakalor nailing the winner through the middle.
The winning team scored 10 aces against five for the opponents, also outplaying them in spiking (47 against 40) and in blocking (12 against 9). Their best scorer of the match, opposite Giorgia Frosini, contributed 16 points, including two aces and four stuffs. Poland’s Julita Piasecka registered the match high of 18 points, 10 of which she scored in the second set alone.
“I am happy we showed a lot of determination, even when we were down by some points,” Frosini commented. “It's because of this focus that we were able to do the right actions to win the game.”
“We made a lot of mistakes at times during the game, but we worked really hard to make this win happen. Of course, we are very proud of ourselves,” Vakulka said after the match.
Egypt and Belarus played a spectacular five-set match, the first one of the tournament. After two hours and 25 minutes of hard-driven nip-and-tuck battle for survival, the European side emerged with a nail-biting 17-15 tie-breaker win, after losing a one-set lead twice during the game before that.
Statistically, the two teams were balanced in serving (four aces each), in offence and in opponent errors. Egypt’s solid advantage in blocking (19 stuffs against 13) proved insufficient for victory. Overall Belarus scored fewer points (106 against 110), but won the most important rallies. Egypt’s outside hitter Ayah Elnady was the best scorer of the match on 31 points. Her teammate and captain May Abdelmaguid impressed with six kill blocks. Opposite Darya Vakulka contributed 21 points to Belarus’s win.
