In a much anticipated encounter between the representatives of volleyball powerhouses China and Türkiye in Sunday’s Pool B fixture at the FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship in Lima, outside hitter Huang Yuexin powered the Asian team to a four-set victory with a 27-point contribution.
FIVB Volleyball Girls' U17 World Championship
Huang leads China to success in big match against Türkiye
Recap of Girls’ U17 World Championship second competition day
Published 05:45, 19 Aug 2024
Triumphant Huang Yuexin
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Pool B: Huang shows more of her scoring prowess
Both China and Türkiye had won their tournament openers on Saturday, so whoever won the direct clash between them on Sunday would remain the only undefeated team in the pool. With Huang on fire in the longest match of the tournament so far, lasting 104 minutes of playing time, China celebrated a 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 28-26, 25-15) victory. Both sides showed a great blocking effort, with the European team putting up 13 stuffs against 10 from China. The Asians, on the other hand outplayed the opponents in both attack (59-41 in spike kills) and serving (10-7 in aces). Huang’s 27-point match high included two kill blocks and one ace. Opposite and captain Yang Shuming contributed two stuffs and two aces towards a 20-point tally, while her Turkish counterpart Aylin Uysalcan, led her team with five kill blocks towards an 18-point total.
Earlier on Sunday, outside Natchaya Ta-Hae carried Thailand to their first win in Pool B, a 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-12) shutout of Ecuador. She produced a match-high 19 points, all in attack.
Natchaya in attack
On the last competition day of the pool stage, Türkiye will clash with Thailand in a direct battle for a spot among the top two teams in the final pool standings. The game is at 11:00 local time (16:00 UTC). Later on Monday, Ecuador will challenge China at 14:00 (19:00).
Pool D: Chinese Taipei beat Croatia for first win in Lima
Chinese Taipei came back from a set down to claim a 3-1 (18-25, 25-14, 25-19, 25-15) victory over Croatia, their first win in Pool D. The success came on the wings of 11 aces for the Asian team. Outside Yi Chen was the best scorer of the match with 18 points for the winners. Her teammate in the middle Tzu-Hua Wu contributed another 17, including three aces, while Croatian middle Sara Lulic impressed with six of her team’s 11 kill blocks during the match.
Yi Chen tries to overcome the Croatian block
In a duel between the two unbeaten teams in the pool, Japan mastered a 3-0 (25-10, 25-23, 25-23) win over Puerto Rico. Opposite Hikari Kudo and outside Saya Nakayama led the winners with 15 points each, while Puerto Rico’s 14-year-old opposite Decelise Champion delivered the match high of 17 points.
In a direct clash on Monday at 17:00 (22:00), Puerto Rico and Chinese Taipei will determine who will join Japan into the top two of the pool table. Croatia will try to collect their first win in Lima in a tough encounter with the undefeated pool leaders at 20:00 (01:00 + 1 day).
Pool A: Peru delight home crowd of over five thousand with first victory
Over 5,200 spectators cheered on from the stands as hosts Peru celebrated their first win of the tournament. In a Pool A fixture on Sunday, they hammered out a 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-14) shutout of Canada. Their outside Paola Moreano topped the charts with 14 points, followed by her cross-court teammate and captain Ariana Vasquez with 13.
Peru in attack against Canada
Earlier in the day, Brazil achieved their second straight-set victory and handed the Dominican Republic their first defeat of the championship. With the help of 11 serving aces, the South Americans produced a 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-8) sweep. Opposite Heloisa De Andrade Benvindo Silva and outside Eduarda Zeni led the way with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
On Monday, Peru will try to follow up with another success as they take on the Dominican Republic at 19:30 (00:30 + 1 day). Before that, at 16:30 (21:30), Canada will challenge Brazil.
Pool C: 14-year-old Gonzalez leads Mexico to first success, Caruso aces away for Italy
Despite an impressive blocking effort from Argentina, producing 15 kill blocks in their second Pool B match, their opponents from Mexico celebrated a 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-19) straight-setter, their first win in Lima, following their five-set misfortune against Italy on opening day. 14-year-old outside Karen Gonzalez was once again Mexico’s leading scorer. She contributed a match-high 18 points towards the victory.
14-year-old Karen Gonzalez swings against Argentina
Italy followed up on their feat against Mexico with a speedy three-set win over Egypt. In less than one hour of playing time, the squad from southern Europe aced an impressive 11 times against their opponents from northern Africa towards a 3-0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-20) sweep. Five of those aces were authored by outside Stella Caruso, who topped the scorers’ chart of the match with a total of 15 points.
Monday’s Pool C programme features Egypt v Mexico at 10:30 (15:30) and Italy v Argentina at 13:30 (18:30).
