Unstoppable Karakurt leads Türkiye to sweep Brazil

Türkiye continue to find their best form ahead of the Volleyball Nations League 2023 Finals as the Europeans secured their fourth victory in the last five matches on Friday in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Turkish entered the court already guaranteed in the Finals, but didn’t slow down against a strong Brazilian team, cruising to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-22) victory at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium.

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The victory has protected Türkiye’s third place in the standings as the team coached by Daniele Santarelli has now eight wins and 26 points and can no longer be caught by Brazil, who are fourth, with seven wins and 21 points.

The ‘Black Wolf’ Ebrar Karakurt had an extraordinaire performance against Brazil, leading the Turkish offense with 19 points – 18 kills and one ace.

“We feel very good about this win because Brazil have a lot of quality and star players in their team,” Karakurt said. “We will be in the same pool in the Olympic Qualification Tournament and this gives us more confidence. I feel the pressure, but I always want to help my team. We have a great squad and everyone coming off the bench has the ability to decide a match for us. Finishing the Preliminary Phase in the top three will be huge for us.”

Outside hitter Ilkin Aydin, who tallied 12 points (11 kills, one block), and middle blocker Eda Erdem, who got 11, with five kills and a match-high six blocks, also got to double digits in scoring.

Brazil’s leading scorer was VNL rookie Maiara Basso, who spent the first two sets at outside hitter and the last one at opposite. The 27-year-old player registered 12 points, with ten kills, one ace and one block.

Türkiye’s strong game at the net was a major factor in the match as the Europeans were considerably more efficient than the South Americans in kills (47 to 35) and blocks (13 to five). Each team registered one ace and the Turkish gave up more points from errors (18 to 12).

Both teams will end their VNL Preliminary Phase campaigns on Sunday, with the Europeans facing Croatia at 13:00 local time (06:00 UTC) and the South Americans meeting hosts Thailand at 20:30 local time (13:30 UTC).

Volleyball Nations League 2023: full schedule and results

Saturday’s schedule in Bangkok will have the duel between Italy and Croatia at 13:00 local time (06:00 UTC), the encounter involving the Netherlands and Canada at 17:00 local time (10:00 UTC) and the Asian Derby reuniting Thailand and Japan at 20:30 local time (13:30 UTC).

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