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    DEFENDING CHAMPION Brazil overcame a first set loss to beat Cuba, 26-28, 25-17, 25-21, 25-23, and win the Manila leg of the 1999 World Grand Prix Women's volleyball Championship last night at the PhilSports Arena.

    It was the sixth straight win for the Brazilians, who topped the four-leg preliminaries with a total of 12 points. They also pocketed the $60,000 top purse.

    Brazil's victory allowed Italy to claim a seat in the crossover semifinal round scheduled on Aug. 28 in Yu Xi, China. The other semifinalists are Russia and China.

    The Italians recovered from a two-set deficit to beat South Korea, 13-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-14, 15-10, earlier.

    The championship round will be played on Aug. 29 where the winner will get $200,000 and the runner-up $100,000. The third and the fourth will get $50,000 and $20,000, respectively.

    Cuba, the Atlanta Olympics gold medalist, had a good start but Brazil, eyeing a fourth straight title, came back strong in the next three sets to win the match.

    Virna Dias, chosen Most Valuable Player of the leg, and Leila Barros, named as the Best Attacker, anchored Brazil's victory with their explosive performances.

    Dias finished with 17 point while Ana Moser and Janina Conceicao added 16 points each for the Brazilians, who rallied from 19-20 to win the third set, 25-21.

    The Cubans did not give up easily in the fourth set where Yumilka Ruiz and Regla McKenzie Bell joined hands to tie the count at 23-all before the Brazilians tightened their defense and played aggressively to win the match watched by a crowd of dome 8,500, a record for a volleyball game.

    Bell topscored with 20 points followed by Ruiz with 13 points. Mirka Francia, named the best blocker had 10 points.

    The tournament, organized by the Philippine Amateur Volleyball Association, was supported by Aqua Fina, Century Park Hotel, Casino Filipino, CITGO Phils., Department of Tourism, Gatorade, Honda, Isuzu, Mikasa, Mizuno, Nextel, Solahart, SSS, PCSO, Tarflex, Triple V, Ubix, Wattmaster Corp., and Var Business Center.

   In the first game, the Koreans, gold medalists in the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games, put up a solid defense to win the first two sets but the Italians became more aggressive to take the third set.

    While Italy continued to play well, South Korea suddenly lost its composure which allowed the Italians to be in control of the fourth and fifth sets.

    During the timeout, Italian coach Angiolino Frigoni instructed his players to play with more intensity and he was happy with the result.

    The Italians responded well and eventually won the next three sets on the brilliant performances of  Francesca Piccinini, Antonella Bragaglia, Simona Gioli and Simon[sic] Rinieri.

    "I was so emotional back there in the dugout when we lost the first two sets to Korea. I was so angry. I told my players that they have to increase their level of performance and play with more intensity," said Frigoni.

    Piccinini led Italy with 24 points, including eight in the fourth set where the Italians raced to an 11-2 lead before taking the set 25-14.

    The Koreans posted a 10-9 lead in the fifth set before the Italians scored six straight points to wrap up the match in one hour, 40 minutes.
 

Text adapted from Manila Bulletin, August 23, 1999

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