Ismailia, Egypt, September 14, 2019 - After two failed attempts in 2013 and 2015, USA won the elusive gold they had always been after, beating Italy 3-2 (25-17, 19-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-10) in the final of the 2019 FIVB Girls' U18 World Championship here on Saturday night. Here's the reaction from the two sides after the final:
USA coach, James Stone: I'm happy that we won the first title for USA in the history of this competition. We worked very hard for that from the first day to the end. We started the match very strong from the first set using our sharp service and we managed to disturb the Italians and began to unfold our strategy after that. Even when Italy won the fourth set, we kept the pace until the end. I want to thank all my players for the hard work they have done throughout the competition.
USA captain, Kennedi Orr: We concentrated very well during the match from the start till the end. I want to thank all my teammates for the hard work they have done throughout the competition. It was really a fantastic competition. I want to thank my key palyer Jessica Mruzik for her hard work during the final. She really deserved to be the competition star. Also from the Italian team Oghosasere Omoruyi did a great job.
USA captain Kennedi Orr sets the ball during the final against Italy of the 2019 FIVB Girls' U18 World Championship in Ismailia.
Italy coach, Marco Mencarelli: We played two big matches against the same team USA. We won the first round match, but we lost narrowly today. They were better than us because they receive better and they used the defect we has in passing very well. Specially in the tie-break we commited a lot of mistakes that cost us the title. USA was really a difficult team to combat today.
Italy captain, Sofia Monza: We had many errors and USA used that to win the match. A 3-2 in the final is not a bad result, as we did our best, but really we were eager to win the title.
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FIVB Volleyball Girls' U18 World Championship
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