World championship veteran Yuri Romano and his teammates enjoyed the cheers of a large number of Filipino fans who came to watch their games.
The presence of around 4,456 enthusiasts energized Italy as it weathered a first-set loss and repulsed Brazil, 23-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-21, on Tuesday at the start of Volleyball Nations League’s Week 3 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The 25-year-old Romano said he got fired up by cheers of the crowd as Italy posted its first victory in the weeklong spikefest.
“It’s very good to play here. The fans are so happy,” said Romano, a member of the Italian squad that took home the 2022 FIVB world championship.
Romano, a 6’8” opposite spiker, knocked in two crucial points as the Italian moved away from a 19-all deadlock during their 133-minute encounter.
The Italian spikers eventually won match point following Henrique Honorato’s floor touch error off Daniel Lavia’s serve.
“We need this win to go up in the standings,” said Romano after teammates Alessandro Michieletto and Gianlucca Galassi contributed 17 and 12 points, respectively.
Brazil drew 19 points from Honorato, a 26-year-old standout from Paraiba.
Ricardo Souza and Flavio Gualberto chipped in 11 points for the Brazilians, who took the first set off Romano’s blocking error, 25-23.
It was Souza’s blocking miscue in the second set which allowed the Italians to take matchpoint, 25-20.
With Galassi leading an attack in the third set, the Italians took control with their biggest lead, 19-11.
Italy will next meet Japan on Thursday.