Italy and Turkey advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U18 World Championship in Durango, after a dominant performance over Canada and hosts Mexico respectively on Sunday at the FENADU venue.

In Monday’s quarterfinals, Italy will face Romania who prevailed in a five-set thriller against Slovakia and Turkey will go up against defending champions the United States, who also won a five-set battle against Argentina.

Italy, who won preliminary round Pool B, continued their winning streak after an overwhelming three-set victory that lasted less than one hour (0:56 minutes) against Canada.

Italy vs Canada 3-0 (25-10, 25-10, 25-13)

The Italian players easily controlled Canada during the three sets. The Europeans impressed by scoring 40 points from attacks against only 14 from their opponents. The Italians were also better in blocks with five against none and a comfortable nine-three advantage in serves.

Outside hitters Dominika Giuliani (team captain) and Julia Ituma led Italy’s scorers producing sixteen points each.

Opposite Giulia Viscioni said their coach told them before the match to play at their own rhythm, with liberty and as comfortably as possible, which gave the team serenity. "We are so happy to reach the quarterfinals and we hope (are crossing our fingers) for a good result,” she said.

Turkey, runners-up in Pool B, reached the final eight with a convincing victory against hosts Mexico. The Turkish players had to overcome considerable resistance from Mexico at the beginning of the first set, with scores evened on numerous occasions, but managed to take control from point 14 onwards. Turkey’s more dominant set was the second and in the third they easily recovered from an early four-point deficit (4-8) to then down Mexico in straight sets.

Turkey vs Mexico 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-17)

Turkey mastered every skill with impressive margins, attacks (33-19), blocks (12-5) and serves (13-6). Both teams allowed seventeen points on unforced errors.

Opposite hitter and captain Pelin Eroktay of Turkey scored a match-high of 16 points, outside hitter Melisa Bukmen contributed with 13 points and middle blocker Deniznazlican Zengin scored the most blocks (5) from her ten points.

Outside hitter Aime Margarita Topete once again topped Mexico's scorers with 15 points. She was the only player with double-digits from the host team.

Pelin Eroktay, captain of Turkey said they were mentally prepared to face Mexico. “Our job was to focus on our performance, which we did pretty well because we were expecting their (Mexico) supporters to be loud. The fans were awesome. We are a great team and today our performance was superior, but we can do better. Our goal is to reach the finals and we are ready for tomorrow”.

Quick links:
2021 FIVB Volleyball Girls' U18 World Championship
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