3rd Place Match
America - Italy
3-0(25-23, 30-28, 26-24)
It was a very close match worthy of a medal match, with no clear winner in each set until the very end, but in the end the USA won all the sets and defeated Italy in straight sets.
The US made it difficult for Italy to score attacks, except for OP Romano and OH Micheletto, with their strong serve and block. On the other hand, the US won the first and second sets with a variety of attacks from the wings such as OH Defalco and the middle such as MB Holt, despite the close battles from start to finish.
In the third set, the United States continued their momentum and scored four block points, including two by MB Holt, to take a maximum lead of 11-5. However, Italy did not give up, and with a service ace from S Gianelli and a service ace and spike from OH Micheletto, they caught up at 14-14.
From there, it was a back-and-forth battle, but in the final stages, the United States broke with a spike from OP Anderson and had the first match point at 24-23. Italy then took it to deuce with a spike from OH Micheletto, but in the end, OH Defalco scored a spike from a dig from L Shoji to make it 26-24, and the United States won.
The United States won the bronze medal for the first time since the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016. They made a remarkable comeback from the previous Tokyo Games, where they were eliminated in the qualifying rounds and placed 10th.
Italy was also aiming for their first medal since the silver medal they won at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, and came into this tournament in first place in the qualifiers and was on a roll, having made a dramatic comeback from 0-2 down against Japan. However, they were unable to win a single set from the semi-finals onwards, and disappointingly finished in fourth place.
Upcoming match schedule
Japan time
Saturday, August 10th Final
20:00~ France - Poland
[PR] "ALL for DREAM -Footsteps to Glory- Japan Volleyball National Team Nations League 2024" will be available on U-NEXT from July 27th (Sat.)
A documentary program that closely follows the unknown behind-the-scenes of the "Volleyball Nations League 2024" and traces the fierce battles will be streamed on U-NEXT.
[Distribution date and time]
July 27th (Saturday) 5pm Boys #1 Boys #2
August 3rd (Saturday) 5pm Women's #1
Saturday, August 10th 5pm Women's #2
Saturday, August 24th 5pm Men's #3
Saturday, August 31st 5pm Women's #3
September 7th (Saturday) 5pm Men's #4
Saturday, September 14th 5pm Women's #4
(Quoted from TBS TV release)
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Photo: Volleyball World
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