World Championship Japan 2010

GRANDE ITALIA !
the best match I've watched to now in this WCH - that's sure.
and now Usa must win against Brazil to keep Italy out of the semis 1-4... won't be easy, yet not impossible.

Congraaaats Italy!! great match!

wooo love the result.. hahahha GO ITALY!!!

I can't believe because of a single mistake someone here asked for another libero for USA. C'mon you guys!!! What kind of US suporters are you? Italy played a lot and so did USA. That was to me the best game so far of this World Championship. I'm brazilian and I was cheering for Italy of course and even so I have to admit USA is a great team and played a lot.

i love paula cardullo....i love their defense.....i wish that russia could have that kind of defense italy showed today.......

and i admire picci for leading the italians when they down 4-5 points in the 4set

I ate my words emil-kei, well, Italy won because they worked harder when it mattered, Gioli played well which made the US blockers guessing were the offense will come. It also mattered that Ortolani contributed in the offense as well.

I really wondered why Larson was still in the game and was not substituted by Hodge. I know that they see Larson as vital in reception but I firmly believe that Hodge can do that and she can also contribute a lot in offense. It's mind boggling, but McCutcheon is really a firm believer in statistics.

Destinee Hooker is really great. and powerful, athleticism
But now, as she will play in Pesaro, she did meet future opponents
=> wekcome to Italy <img style="cursor: pointer;" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='pointer'" onclick="tinyMCE.insertSmiley('../wcf/images/smilies/winke.gif', 'wave', '');" src="../wcf/images/smilies/winke.gif" alt="" title="wave" />
and Scavolini Pesaro made the right player. Very, very good choice...

Bergamo and Villa Cortese, not goog news with Destinee

I will try to find the video about NCAA championship game vs Penn state (with Megan Hodge)

but even though italy wins all its remaining games and the usa loses to brazil. usa will still make it to the semis most likely because they'll both end with two losses. but usa's point ratio is better than italy. the teams from this side of the pool are victims of the pooling system.

Quote from fraggle_r

Destinee Hooker is really great. and powerful, athleticism
But now, as she will play in Pesaro, she did meet future opponents
=> wekcome to Italy <img style="cursor: pointer;" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='pointer'" onclick="tinyMCE.insertSmiley('../wcf/images/smilies/winke.gif', 'wave', '');" src="../wcf/images/smilies/winke.gif" alt="" title="wave" />
and Scavolini Pesaro made the right player. Very, very good choice...

Bergamo and Villa Cortese, not goog news with Destinee

I will try to find the video about NCAA championship game vs Penn state (with Megan Hodge)

Well, let's see if they will put Destinee at OH and how she performs as one in the Serie A considering that Manon is also in Scavolini. Manon definitely plays as an Opposite so we'll see how Destinee responds and adjusts to the game

japan is in the semis now?

Quote from fraggle_r

Destinee Hooker is really great. and powerful, athleticism
But now, as she will play in Pesaro, she did meet future opponents

and Scavolini Pesaro made the right player. Very, very good choice...

Bergamo and Villa Cortese, not goog news with Destinee

I will try to find the video about NCAA championship game vs Penn state (with Megan Hodge)

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The link of the amazing video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoIZVyLqGaI

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Well, the worst game USA played in the whole tournament. Wrong timing.

The US' passing and reception were very tentative the whole match.

But credit to the Italian for putting up a defensive show. Cardullo was a mad woman at the back row. Just unbelievable.

I believe the Brazilians will be the #1 in Pool F while Italy and US will be fighting out for that 2nd spot.

Its interesting...USA faces Netherlands next. Could be an upset again if USA doesn't improve their reception.

That match between USA and Brazil could be a real treat... Brazil will probably do everything to defeat USA and vice versa.

I hope this match will serve as a wake up call for the American.

Forgot to mention that the Italian team that played a while ago was like the All-world Italian team of 2007... They were unbelievable.

And it did helped that it was their 3rd game this year against the Americans so scouting was a lot easier.

And the inexperience of some American players like Larson, A.Glass, Akinradewo and Hooker was evident in the game. Lots to learn. And it didn't helped that they were up against the likes of Gioli, Lo Bianco, Piccinini and Del Core.

Anyway, is Japan thru to the semis?

a mature ortolani played in today's match. she scored many points from hitting off the block of the outside hitter. she wasn't error prone in both attack and service.
gioli could be the best middle blocker in terms of attack right now. you can even hear the usa girls shouting during the time outs that the key to victory is to be able to block gioli. unfortunately, she was too fast for the usa. it also helps that an awesome setter sets to her.
as much as leo lo bianco is my favorite player. i'm a little disappointed with her setting today. even when her team receives great, she still opts for a high outside set. making del core and piccinini face a well placed block everytime.

alisha glass saves many balls. but what i don't like about her game in this match is when she sets her middles, the sets are many times too low for akinradewo or too far for bown to do her running back slide. bown's offensive percentage was also high compared to the other girls. but she only get around two spike attempts every set.
destinee hooker is the future of US volleyball. her back row attacks are heavy; her success rate in hitting back row attacks was very high in this match.
24% and 20% attack percentage for tom and larson respectively. while watching, tom's attack didn't look too bad. and it's not that her offense was not good; it's just that cardullo was digging many of her strong hits. i agree that larson's offense wasn't good in this match. but i'd still choose her over megan hodge because she's a very steady receiver.

Bravo Italy and bravo Japan.
Japan crushed Turkey with an amazing defence and attack. I am so happy that Sano will play in Azerbaijan. Our next goal-Saori Kimura! She`s just unbelievable.

che grande, ITALIA

No, Japan still needs at least another win... They are still fighting with Korea for the spot, that match will be a treat.

As for the other group, Brazil more than likely ends up on top, unless USA crushes the NED and brings that point ratio to within reach or Brazil stumbles against Germany

Quote from odin

i agree that larson's offense wasn't good in this match. but i'd still choose her over megan hodge because she's a very steady receiver.

The coach may have at least done something because Larson was clearly a liability in the match. Hodge should have entered. At the end, Glass was not setting her middles and serve receive was not working, so another productive OH may have helped. And sitting in a bench may motivate Larson to step up her game.

I watched USA-Italy today and I'm so disappointed. Now the main candidates to the title are Russia and Brazil.
Italy played hopeless and so USA (only Hooker)