Catania, Italy, July 17 - Frustrated by a loss on Thursday, Russia take it back on Italy winning 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-22, 30-28). Russians kept nerves in a thrilling 4th set to record first points and move up to the 3rd place in a pool G.
Both teams began with a tough play point by point until Lyubushkina fired a powerful serve to put her team on a high 15-9 lead. A young Italian middle blocker Chirichella responded with the same manner to chase the score to 14-19, but Russians kept the domination and won 25-18.
Italy stormed right in the 2nd set and with a great performance by Caterina Bossetti went 13-9 ahead. Russia let Obmochaeva in to improve their offensive play, but Italy kept the momentum and won the set 25-20.
None of the teams managed to keep the lead for long in the 3rd set, with a tough play point by point. A great substitution by Obmochaeva paid off for Russia and the spiker stayed on court to help her team, leading their game at the net. On Italy's side Tirozzi remained her team's top player, but Russia took over at the end of the set and won 25-22.
Fourth set was a true battle with both teams fighting hard in defense to keep the ball in the favor. Italy ran off to 20-16 with a great plays by Caterina Bossetti and Ofelia Malinov. Russia responded with huge blocks and teams tied at 24-24. A tough fight continued point by point, but Russia remained calm and closed the game at 30-28.
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