European Small Countries Association, San Marino opens with a victory • newsrimini.it
Faroe Islands-San Marino 2 to 3 (25/22 23/25 25/21 19/25 8/15)
The European Championships in the Small Countries Division should result in a sweaty tie-break victory for San Marino, which in two hours and five minutes beats the resistance of the hosts of the Faroe Islands. Protagonist of the match Lorenzo Benvenuti, author of 29 points and, above all, of the decisive ones in the tie-break.
Chronicle. San Marino starts with Zonzini opposed to Rondelli, Benvenuti and Venturini of the band, Bernardi and Venturi central with Bacciocchi free. At the start of the game, Rondelli looks for Welcome, who responds well from place 4. San Marino leads by 9/11 but two wrong attacks bring the set back in balance. A phase begins in which San Marino is not very precise in defense and on the block so the Faroes are able to carry on (17/13). From that moment on, the titans chase their opponents without ever being able to approach them. Faroe closes on 25/22 on the second set-ball. In the second set the biancazzurri have a better start; Welcome continues to produce points but Zonzini (6 points in the set) and Venturini (5) also enter the game more. However, an empty pass on 16/21 allows the hosts to place a partial of 6/1 bringing the teams in a draw (22/22). In the final, Zonzini and his companions are colder and close 23/25 at the second set point thanks to two mistakes in attack by their opponents. The beginning of the third round is rather contracted with several errors on both sides. The two teams stay in close contact until 16 all when a break of 3 to 0 forces Mascetti to time-out. On 22/18 two attacks by Benvenuti and an opponent error put the biancazzurri back on track (22/21) but three other well-orchestrated attacks by the islanders set the score at 25/21. The fourth set seems to follow in the footsteps of the second with the titans ahead 8/13 without too many problems in managing the game with Benvenuti as protagonist (8 points in the set). This time the Faroe Islands fail to get back into the score, on the contrary, they completely lose the measures of their game and abdicate quite soon beyond the final 19/25. The tie-break is very tight only until the change of court (7/8 for the titans). At that point, Benvenuti takes the chair and signs all the biancazzurri attacks up to the final 8/15 which gives him his first victory in the European Championship.
San Marino Scoreboard: Rondelli 1, Bernardi 7, Venturini 12, Benvenuti 29, Venturi 3, Zonzini 18, Bacciocchi (L), De Luigi 2, Togni, Calandriello. Ace: 3. Muri point: 9. CT Stefano Mascetti.
Classification
San Marino PG 1 PV 1 PP 0 SV 3 SP2
Faroe PG 1 PV 0 PP 1 SV 2 SP 3
Scotland PG 0 PV 0 PP 0 SV 0 SP 0
Iceland PG 0 PV 0 PP 0 SV 0 SP 0
Schedule and results
Friday 13 Mayor
5 pm: Faroe – San Marino 2 to 3
8 pm: Scotland – Iceland
Saturday 14 May
2.00 pm: Iceland – San Marino
5pm: Scotland – Faroe
Sunday 15th May
2.00 pm: San Marino – Scotland
5 pm: Faroe – Iceland
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