Julio Velasco, national women’s volleyball coach – Photo Fiorenzo Galbiati/FIPAV
3-1 victory against the United States for the girls of Julio Velasco at the Volleyball Nations League. TO Fukuoka the blues clearly beat the Americans, gaining the Final Eight of the tournament, after having, obviously, already archived the qualification for Paris Olympics: “We knew beforehand that we were strong but this match was a match to learn how to play against teams that are difficult to play against. The United States defends, rebuilds and has many variations, they are a difficult team to put down and to beat them you have to stay on track and make them sweat.”admitted the Ct sky blue.
“I was convinced that beyond the importance of the match in terms of ranking, I was certain that it would be a very training match and I must say that the girls responded very well. Even when we lost the set we returned to the court and reacted differently than what happened, for example against Brazil. I’m very happy with how the changes played, because this gives us security when maybe things don’t go well. Tomorrow against Serbia we will give space to those who have played less, because it is right to keep everyone on the ball and motivated.”he concludes Velasco.
The Italian central team then spoke at the end of the match Sara Fahrwhich points straight to Finals: “Yes, it was important for us to approach this match well, because it was a very challenging challenge in view of the finals. We played well and despite their constant changing of formations we behaved well by responding to all their innovations. I believe we can consider ourselves satisfied and ready to give more and more. In the second set the opponents were good at putting us in difficulty by playing an excellent volleyball to which we however responded by getting back on track, taking care of the details and closing the match with effectiveness and confidence. Tomorrow against Serbia it won’t be easy but we will have to approach in the best possible way, wanting to obtain the best possible placing in view of the Finals.”
Finally she also intervened Alessia Orrohappy with her and the team’s performance: “We played a good match, I think we witnessed some good volleyball. For us it was important because we were facing a very strong opponent who prepares us for what we will face in about a week in Bangkok in the finals. I’m very happy because we witnessed an exhilarating match, we scored a nice and weighty victory by playing good block-defense and reacting to their many lineup changes. Clearly we must and can still improve a lot, we work hard to reach very high levels because the Finals and then the Olympic Games await us. We hope to continue like this to take a new step of growth.”
