Italy and Turkey off to flying start in #FIVBWomensU23 qualifier, Bulgaria surprise Serbia

Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia, July 27, 2016 – Italy lived up to their status of pre-favourites in the quest for a ticket to next year’s FIVB U23 Women’s Volleyball World Championship opening the programme of the European qualifier in Vrnjačka Banja with a 3-0 victory (26-24, 25-21, 29-27) over Poland.Later in the afternoon Bulgaria came back from two sets down to cause a sensation with their tie-break victory over hosts Serbia 3-2 (22-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-9). The matchup between Turkey and Croatia completed the programme of the opening day with the young Turks cashing an easy 3-0 win (25-18, 25-11, 25-16). The eventual winners and runners-up of the single round robin tournament will qualify for next year’s World Championship in Slovenia.Italy v Poland 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 29-27)The three sets Poland and Italy contested on Wednesday afternoon followed a similar pattern, with Italy claiming a comfortable lead early on, and Poland coming back strong, before the ‘Azzurrine’ were the ones to celebrate at the end of each set. Even the injury sustained by Vittoria Piani and the courage shown by Poland could not prevent Italy from sweeping three sets in a row. The most exciting one was the third and last one where Poland had two set balls but Italy erased both and eventually finished it all off with an ace by Alice Pamio.Italy coach Luca Cristofani commented: “It was incredible, my team played beyond their possibilities. We played without our best player, our captain, and yet we won and took three points from this match.”Italy setter Jennifer Boldini could hardly find …

continue reading in source www.fivb.org