tokyo
The return flight from Tokyo is postponed for at least two days. The women’s volleyball team qualified for the quarter-finals of the Olympic tournament thanks to the easy victory over Argentina and the simultaneous defeat (the third consecutive) of the outgoing champion China. The Asians, at the last resort, will be Italy’s next opponents tomorrow at 14.45, Italian time. «China – Raphaela Folie remembers – I remember the blow they gave us at the 2014 World Cup in our home. They lost these first matches, but we can’t trust them: they can count on great players and we will have to put maximum concentration on the field ».
For the Imoco center, the match against Argentina marked his personal debut at the Olympics; taking over from Fahr in the middle of the game, Folie confidently spread out his entire repertoire, made up of walls (3), fast and early times. His 8 points, with 60% in attack, are a good confirmation for Davide Mazzanti, who will have many alternatives for the next matches. «I’m living the Olympics very well – adds Folie, the only one not to have touched the field in the first two races – ours is a fantastic group: twelve warriors with the same dream, cultivated for some years. We are putting everything we have on the field and for now things are going on. At the beginning we were a bit contracted, but I was not worried: I know the value of this team, there are some smudges from time to time but the important thing is to react, to give your best at the end of the set, as we did. In the second and third we broke up and took home the game ». Now, even if the qualification is in the pocket (it is the fourth time Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012), the level is destined to increase. “China and the United States are really tough opponents and that’s why we have to raise our level.” Closing in first place would mean having the certainty of facing the fourth classified in group A, while the second and third of their respective groups will go to the draw for the quarter-final matches.
Coach Mazzanti wants to keep the bar high. «Ours was a complicated group and we knew that a great team would be left out. The fact of being qualified two days early is something important, but it will be even more important to play for the best position in view of the quarter-finals ». 17 points from Egonu were enough against Argentina, once again top scorer of the game and always on the pitch like De Gennaro and Bosetti (10 points); Fahr finished with 7, Sylla with 3 in a final remnant of the match. Now Italy leads group B with 3 wins and 9 points, ahead of USA (3v, 8p), Russia (2v, 6p), Turkey (1v, 4p), China (0v, 1p), Argentina (0v, 0p) ). Group A classification: Serbia (3v, 9p), Brazil (3v, 8p), South Korea (2v, 5p), Japan (1v, 3p), Dominican Republic (0v, 2p), Kenya (0v, 0p). –