Italvolley, first tie-break success in VNL

Italy-Thailand 3-2

Italy’s Women’s Volleyball Nations League 2023 opens with a success.

At the end of a marathon over 2 1/2 hours, the Azzurri won 3-2 (24-26; 25-17; 27-29; 30-28; 15-11) over Thailand in Antalya in the very first match of the opening day of Pool 1 of VNL.

Loveth Omoruyi’s performance was excellent on par with a decisive Sylvia Nwakalor especially in the fourth set when the match seemed to have been compromised.

“We had some important chances during the match, however, that we squandered,” said Italian coach Davide Mazzanti, “then in the tiebreak objectively the match plan blew up and mainly the character of this team came out. I knew it would be a difficult match because playing against Thailand is never easy without considering that it was the first official match for us. I hoped throughout the match that those wasted chances would not allow us to bring the match home and with a lot of desire and determination, it went well. We are not great physically but that is normal for the period. We paid for the long actions but it was all in the plan because they are really good at stretching the exchanges exalting themselves in the break phase that today saw us make so many mistakes. Now, however, we have to recover quickly and add something new every day of what we intend to accomplish. This pool will be important to refine our game and ideas.”