Tokyo, Japan, September 22, 2015 – Australia eased into their third victory in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup with a 3-0 match (25-19, 25-17, 25-19) against Tunisia at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Tuesday.
Australia captain Thomas Edgar managed 17 attacks and three blocks to win the Most Impressive Player award. Samuel Walker helped out with 11 more points for coach Roberto Santilli’s squad.
Edgar got off to good start in the first set, successfully launching six attacks to prove that Team Australia simply had more firepower in them, even in their tentative moments.
Tunisia put in good effort with Elyes Karamosli and Mohamed Ali Ben Othmen Miladi swinging from the flanks. However, Tunisia’s lapses in reception could not avoid a 19-25 result in the first set.
The Tunisian side started to impose a better level of volleyball by the second set. They were able to pass the ball and set up Hamza Nagga for some solid spikes.
Australia initiated tighter defence and netted some points with Jacob Ross Guymer and Max Staples up front. Edgar continued to be an imposing, towering presence and sent a powerful slammer to close the second set, 25-17.
Coach Fathi Mkaouar’s team needed to avoid playing the chasing game in the third set. Their predicament required error-free reception so they could designate their hitters to do the job.
Tunisia tried this prescription to remedy their woes. They passed the ball better to give rise to more attempts in attack.
Australia maintained their effort in blocking to make their opponents miscalculate swings, all the way to a 25-19 finish in the third set.