Tehran, Iran, July 1, 2016 – Luca Vettori starred with 19 points as Italy edged Argentina 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22) in front of a rapturous Tehran home crowd bearing the love of Argentinean coach in heart on the opening night of week 3.
With the crowd firmly on the side of Argentina, It was Vettori and Osmany Juantorena that silenced the fans with a commanding display at the net, both scoring 19 points for their side, whilst Ezequiel Palacios was top scorer for Argentina with 16 points.
In the first set, Iranian fans applauded Velasco and his team inspiring them on each point to reach the first TTO leading Italy 8-7. The Argentinean could not preserve the points as they came out of the court for the second technical time-out 16-13 down with Vettori dominating at the net and powering Italy to win the set 25-18.
The astonishing performance of Vettori continued as Italy led 8-4 and it made Argentina coach Velasco change plans, which allowed them to level the points at 11-11. The rally went point by point with no team wanting to give an inch and it was finally Italy, who maintained their composure to take their chance 25-20 with the excellent pairing of Ivan Zaytsev and Vettori crucial for the European side.
While Argentina had left the door open for Italy in the first two sets, in the third set it remained firmly shut as they took the lead for the first technical time-out in 8-4. Zaytsev was substituted by Lanza as Lorenzo felt concerned with losing the points one after another and they continued to fall behind going into the second technical timeout 10-16 behind. This allowed Nicolas Bruno to closed the set for Argentina to extend the match to a fourth set with 25-22 win.
In the fourth set, Argentina revived hope as they took the lead 6-8 at the first technical time out. Soon Italy found its feet and with star player Simone Buti proving crucial i the comeback to reach 11-10 before storming ahead 16-12 at the second technical time out with consecutive successful attempts by Vettori at the net. The home crowd raised the roof in expectancy as Argentina reduced the deficit to 21-20 but Italy’s stunning efforts when it mattered most saw them click a four set win with a 25-22 win for a 3-1 scoreline.
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