On the final day of play at the Topsportcentrum Rotterdam, Turkey faced Belarus for the ninth position in the world, while Egypt met Argentina.
Women u20 2021
Belarus grab ninth place at the U20s
Argentina defeat Egypt to finish 11th
Published 07:11, 18 Jul 2021
Belarus claimed a 3-1 victory, coming back into the match after losing the first set. Argentina, on the other hand, had no problems, facing Egypt and finishing in the competition on a positive note, grabbing the 11th place.
Final 9-10
Turkey started on the right foot in the match. With three successful blocks and one ace, they took the lead in the first set.
Belarus pushed hard on the attack and took the next two sets. The players coached by Volha Palcheuskaya improved also on the block, while Turkey suffered from some unforced errors. Belarus’ captain Kseniya Liabiodkina was on fire with her spikes.
Turkey tried to extend the match to a five-setter, but at 22-22 in the fourth set, Belarus showed greater determination and closed in their favour.
Delivering a better performance on attack, Belarus outclassed their opponents in this element (62 to 42). Turkey were better at the block (12 to 10) and aced seven times (compared to four by Belarus). Liabiodkina topped the charts, recording 25 points.
“We are really happy with the result. We lost to them in the semifinals of the European Championship in our age group, so we had to take revenge. Of course, we expected to finish better at the Worlds, among the Top 8, but we had difficult matches in the beginning. I am satisfied that we came back in our last fixtures," Emilia Milkanovich, opposite hitter of Belarus said.
Team Argentina
Final 11-12
Across the three sets, Argentina left no doubts as to who were the better team.
Led by Bianca Cugno (nine points in the first set), the Panthers took control of the game. Precise on block-defence as well, Argentina took the second set. Guadelupe Martin on the serve in the beginning of the third overpowered Egypt’s reception, who were unable to organise their game.
Statistically, Argentina proved better on all counts, seizing as many as 50 attacks (to only 20 by Egypt), six blocks (to three by the African team) and aced eight times (while Egypt had four).
Cugno again finished as top scorer of the match, hammering 16 points, while Julieta Sandez added 12. For Egypt, Farida Elhenawy and Ahmed Ayatallah recorded six points each.
“We are happy, of course. Today we were able to start better and to take control of the game. This was our main problem in the past days, so we could say that we have learned the lesson,” Catalina Rochaix, setter of Argentina said.
