Ankara, Turkey, August 19, 2015 – 2013 titleholder China concluded their 2015 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U23 World Championship campaign on the fifth place. On Wednesday afternoon, the Asian side swept Italy in straight sets (25-21, 25-20, 27-25) to claim the sixth win in their seventh match in Turkey’s capital Ankara. Their 0-3 loss against the Dominican Republic during pool play was the only defeat for China.
Meili Song was China’s top scorer with 19 points, including three aces and two blocks. Anastasia Guerra and Anna Nicoletti contributed 14 kills each for Italy.
Only five errors and three aces were the main reason for China’s supremacy in the opening set. Led by exceptional Meili Song, the Chinese closed out the first set 25-21.
There was still not much to separate the two teams in the second set. Except from a higher amount of mistakes (8-3), the young Europeans displayed an attractive game. Like against Thailand on Tuesday, Italian opposite Anna Nicoletti proved her skills with powerful spiking. The Chinese – however – remained focused to seal the second set 25-20.
Italy didn’t give up in the third set. The Europeans bounced back and regained control of the match. Nevertheless, it was not good enough. China came back strongly to save four set balls and eventually closing it out at 27-25.