Alex Ranghieri, Italy – “We played against a really young talented team. We played a good game. It’s win or go home now – I know that feeling. Every single team we find on the other side of the net is going to be a tough team to beat so we have to find more rhythm. It wasn’t there so hopefully we’ll find it in the next game. This was special because my 89-year old grandmother got to watch me play in person for the first time. I’m super stoked.”
Adrian Carambula, Italy – “This means that we are still alive. We knew this was going to be a tough pool coming in. It was all about surviving after we went down the first two games. Now we beat this young, good team from Uruguay so now the real tournament starts. We have to regroup, take a deep breath, find some energy, and come to battle. This particular game we had a strategy and it was working so I didn’t use the skyball much. I know the crowd wanted it, but you have to be smart and play to win, not for the show.”
Marco Cairus, Uruguay – “It was a nice experience, it was very important for us. It was disappointing because of the results but we came for the experience. Alex’s block is really good, it is one of the best in the world. He pressured us throughout the match.”