Italy beats Bulgaria for Olympic volleyball bronze

Italy's Michal Lasko (right) spikes the ball past Bulgaria's Tsvetan Sokolov (left) and Viktor Yosifov during the men's bronze medal volleyball match at the 2012 Summer Olympics on Sunday.

Italy beat Bulgaria 3-1 on Sunday to clinch the bronze medal in men’s Olympic volleyball.

Italy capitalized better on its opportunities in the matchup of surprise semifinalists to prevail 25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 25-21.

Captain Cristian Savani scored a game-high 23 points to guide the Italians to a fourth medal in its past five games.

Bulgaria’s impressive run ends after it closed in on a first men’s volleyball medal since winning silver at the 1980 Games. It also came despite team turmoil before the start of the London Games when the coach and several players quit the team.