Caguas, Puerto Rico, September 13, 2015 - A marvelous game acted as pool play closure at FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship in Caguas as Italy displayed a fabulous performance to subdue Japan 3-1 (21-25, 25-21, 25-9, 26-24), wrapping up Pool C action.
Italy’s Paola Egonu and Japan’s Mizuki Yanagita ended up leveled as top scorers with 20 points each, but the Italian hitter was better sparred by teammate Anna Danesi, who followed her with 19 points, 6 of them being stuff blocks.
From the very beginning, the game had an intense rhythm marked by the weapons of choice of each team - Japan relied on their active defence while Italy made use of their height to pile up block after block. The European side held off Japan at the net by a 15-3 margin.
Japan found their tempo on the first set, but it was hard for them to keep it during the whole game. When Italy tied the score, the Asian side got a bit demoralised and Italy bordered perfection to step forward. And although the match got leveled once again on the fourth set, Italy kept a slim lead and Danesi sealed the game with their sixth block of the night.