Ankara, Turkey, August 18, 2015 – Hosts Turkey and Brazil are the finalists of the 2015 FIVB Volleyball U23 Women’s World Championship in Ankara, Turkey. In front of 5’000 excited fans, Turkey booked their final ticket by defeating Japan in four breath-taking sets 25-20, 25-12, 24-26, 25-22 while Brazil overpowered the Dominican Republic in an epic five-setter 3-2 (19-25, 25-21, 15-25, 25-22, 15-9).
In Wednesday’s gold medal match, hosts Turkey will take on Brazil while Japan and the Dominican Republic will play for bronze. Italy and China will compete for the fifth place, Thailand and Bulgaria for the seventh rank.
In Tuesday’s first semifinal, Brazil overcame the Dominican Republic in a thrilling roller-coaster semifinal 3-2. The Caribbean led two sets to one before they slowly but steadily ran out of power. The young Brazilians – on the other hand – kept calm to turn the tables at the end. 9 to 16 errors in the last two sets were one of the reasons why Brazil eventually prevailed.
Captain Rosamaria led the Brazilians with a tournament-high of 27 points, including eight block winners. Isabel Pena was the most scorer for the Dominican Republic with 22 kills.
In front of 5’000 excited fans, Turkey secured the second final ticket of the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U23 World Championship by beating Japan in four spectacular sets. Except from the second set, it was an electrifying duel with both teams displaying an amazing volleyball show.
Turkey’s Kubra Akman and Japan’s Arisa Inoue contributed 21 points each for their teams. Turkey made the difference with 19 to 5 blocks.
In the playoff round for the places 5-8, Italy proved too strong for Thailand (25-23, 27-25, 28-26) in Tuesday’s opening match at Baskent Volleyball Hall.
In the second playoff match, China defeated Bulgaria 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-19). Like in their previous matches, the Chinese lost the first set to come back strongly in the second part of the match.
The 2015 FIVB Volleyball U23 Women’s World Championship will come to an end on Wednesday with the gold and bronze medal matches as well as the classification games for the places 5-8.
Top Scorer by Day
23- Li Yao of China v Thailand on August 12
23- Martinez Brayelin Elizabeth of Dominican Republic v Peru on August 12
19- Kokram Pimpichaya of Thailand v Peru on August 13
18- Kubra Akman of Turkey v Brazil on August 14
18- Arisa Inoue of Japan v Thailand on August 14
24- Arisa Inoue of Japan v Dominican Republic on August 15
23- Aya Elshamy of Egypt v Italy on August 17
27- Rosamaria of Brazil v Dominican Republic on August 18
Top Scoring Performances
27- Rosamaria of Brazil v Dominican Republic on August 18
24- Arisa Inoue of Japan v Dominican Republic on August 15
23- Li Yao of China v Thailand on August 12
23- Martinez Brayelin Elizabeth of Dominican Republic v Peru on August 12
23- Aya Elshamy of Egypt v Italy on August 17
23- Anna Nicoletti of Italy v Thailand on August 18
Top Individual Serving Performances
4- Nakata Shino of Japan v Cuba on August 12
4- Shirai Misaki of Japan v Cuba on August 12
4- Baladin Hande of Turkey v Egypt on August 12
4- Shirai Misaki of Japan v China on August 13
4- Inoue Arisa of Japan v Thailand on August 14
4- Silva Juma of Brazil v Italy on August 15
Top Team Serving Performances
11- China v Cuba on August 17
11- Thailand v Italy on August 18
10- Japan v Cuba on August 12
10- China v Bulgaria on August 18
Top Individual Blocking Performances
9- Kubra Akman of Turkey v Japan on August 18
8- Rosamaria of Brazil v Dominican Republic on August 18
7- Sara Bonifacio of Italy v Egypt on August 17
6- Jineiry Martinez of Dominican Republic v Japan on August 15
6- Milena Dimova of Bulgaria v Turkey on August 16
6- Jineiry Martinez of Dominican Republic v Thailand on August 17
Top Team Blocking Performances
19- Turkey v Japan on August 18
17- Turkey v Brazil on August 14
15- Dominican Republic v Japan on August 15
14- China v Japan on August 13
14- Brazil v Dominican Republic on August 18
14- Dominican Republic v Brazil on August 18
Highest Scoring Sets
30-28 Bulgaria v Colombia (3rd set) on August 13
30-28 Thailand v Cuba (2nd set) on August 15
30-28 Brazil v Italy (1st set) on August 15
30-28 Brazil v Bulgaria (3rd set) on August 17
Highest Scoring Matches
207- Turkey v Bulgaria 3-2 (25-20, 25-22, 23-25, 19-25, 15–8) on August 15
207- Italy v Egypt 3-2 (22-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-15, 15-12) on August 17
201- Brazil v Dominican Republic 3-2 (19-25, 25-21, 15-25, 25-22, 15-9) on August 18
190- China v Thailand 3-1 (25-27, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23) on August 12