Wednesday, November 01, 2006

4th Ranked Lady Italian Volleyballers Bounce Back Over Peru; Kazakhstan Terrorizes US

The ANNOTICO Report

The Lady Italians. ranked 4th in the world, were upset in their opening game by Serbia-Montenegro, but bounced back to beat Peru.

But the real buzz of the Tournament was the fact that Borat's "poor" Kazakhstan seriously challenged  the US Ladies, ranked 6th in the world. In their first match, the US  dropped the first set to Kazakhstan, then evened the score at two sets apiece, but faced an 8-1 deficit in the deciding fifth set, but  rallied by scoring 10 of the next 13 points and closed out the contest for a 16-14 victory.

How very close "poor" Kazakhstan came to making Borat "proud" !!! :) :)

Italy downs Peru at women's volleyball worlds

The Associated Press

November 1, 2006

Nagoya,, Japan:

Defending champion Italy rebounded from an opening day loss to defeat Peru in straight sets Wednesday at the women's world volleyball championships.

Italy, fourth in the world FIVB rankings, lost to Serbia-Montengro on Tuesday but returned to form with a 25-15, 25-16, 25-14 win over 12th-ranked Peru in Group D.

With Elisa Togut and Sara Anzanello up front, the Italians used their height advantage to outscore Peru on spikes and blocks.

"After yesterday's loss, I told my players we needed to start the tournament from today," said Italy coach Massimo Barbolini. "We played better in every aspect of the game and we need to keep producing results. That's the way it is at a tournament like this.

Peru, which defeated Egypt in its first match, conceded too many unforced errors and couldn't find its rhythm after dropping the opening set.

OTHER RESULTS

The top four teams in each group advance to the second round.

Elsewhere in Group D, Serbia-Montenegro posted its second straight upset with a 25-22, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23 victory over Cuba, which dropped to 1-1.

In other matches, championship contender Brazil improved to 2-0 with a convincing 25-17, 25-13, 25-16 win over winless Kazakhstan in Group C play at Kobe.

Fabiana Claudino led the way with 16 points for Brazil, which won a fourth straight World Grand Prix title in September and is hopeful of adding a world championship title to its haul here.

Karina Ocasio had 14 points while captain Aurea Cruz added 12 for the Puerto Rico, which picked up its first win of the tournament with a solid 25-17, 25-23, 25-20 victory over winless Cameroon.

The United States was stretched to five sets for the second straight day but prevailed with a 25-19, 25-22, 27-29, 20-25, 15-7 win over the Netherlands.

Tayyiba Haneef produced some key spikes and led the Americans with 21 points. Heather Bown also had a strong game with 19 points.

In Sapporo, Lioubov Shashkova spiked for 19 points to lead undefeated Russia to a 25-19, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20 decision over Azerbaijan (0-2) in Group B.

Olympic champion China cruised to a 25-19, 25-17, 25-23 over the Dominican Republic, who has yet to win a match.

Germany improved to a perfect 2-0 after getting a team-high 17 points from Angelina Grun on its way to a 25-18, 25-21, 25-19 win over Mexico, which dropped to 0-2.

In Group A, Taiwan, which upset host Japan on Tuesday, continued to impress with a 25-13, 25-9, 29-27 win over Kenya.

Poland was stretched to five sets on its way to a 25-21, 23-25, 26-24, 23-25, 15-12 win over South Korea.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/

2006/11/01/sports/

AS_SPT_VOL_Worlds_Women.php

http://www.usavolleyball.org/

VolleyballNews/news.asp?id=1376

The ANNOTICO Reports

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