With eight of the 16 national teams that started the tournament still alive in the race for the title, the four quarterfinals will be held on Thursday, with Mexico and China battling at 10:30 local time (15:30 GMT), the Chinese Taipei and Brazil meeting at 13:30 (18:30), Italy and Türkiye dueling at 16:30 (21:30) and Peru and Japan facing each other at 19:30 (00:30, Friday).
One of three continental derbies held in the Round of 16, the duel between Peruvians and Argentineans was easily the most exciting of them as it took the hosts all five sets to produce a 3-2 (21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 21-25, 15-13) victory and move forward.
Outside hitters Paola Moreano, with 22 points (all in kills), and Gianella Chanca, with 17 (15 kills, two blocks), led the Peruvian offense in the match. Argentina had the match’s top scorer in outside hitter Justina Fortes, who left the court with 26 points (kills, one ace).
Peru’s opponents in the quarterfinals, Japan had a less stressful journey in the Round of 16 as the Asians had no trouble beating Ecuador 3-0 (25-9, 25-18, 25-15) with outside hitters Aileen Mcallister and Yoritomi Kaho producing 14 and 13 points, respectively.
