Argentina's captain Javier Filardi rejoices with the victory
Varna, Bulgaria, July 11, 2015 – Argentina claimed the third place in Group 2 of FIVB Volleyball World League 2015 after a disputed match against Belgium in Varna. The European team caught up twice before the South Americans finished it off at 3-2 (25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 18-25, 15-11) and took the 11th place in the overall final standings of the competition, leaving the opponent in the 12th. The game was also a scoring race between Argentina’s Facundo Conte (24 points) and Belgium’s Sam Deroo (23).
The Argentinean spikers made the big difference in the first set. Jose Luis Gonzalez and Facundo Conte were unstoppable in offence and kept pounding point after point towards the final 25-18. Gonzalez himself, with an elegant hit, scored the last point to give his team the lead in the match. Sam Deroo and Kevin Klinkenberg were on fire in the second set. With great performances both on the serve and on the spike they led Belgium into establishing control over the scoreboard and tying the match after 25-20.
The third set was the most competitive one, with Argentina maintaining a small lead through the most part. It was Sebastian Sole’s blocks and, again, the attacks of Conte and Gonzalez that gave the opponents a lot of hard time. A block-out by the latter ended the set at 25-21 Argentina’s way. Belgium took an early lead in the fourth set, but really broke away between the two technical time-outs. Captain Sam Deroo led his teammates into the tie-breaker, scoring five points in the fourth set, including the last one, which shaped up the 25-18 for the record.
Argentina rushed to an early 5-1 advantage in the decisive fifth set. This was already a comfortable lead that the South Americans managed to maintain through the end. The Belgians never caught up and Argentina closed the set at 15-11 and the match at 3-2.
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