Türkiye edged forward in the three-way race with favourites Brazil and Japan in Pool B of the FIVB Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifiers. In the first clash between two of these three contenders, star opposite Melissa Vargas and captain Eda Erdem steered the reigning Volleyball Nations League and European champions to s straight-set victory over Brazil in Tokyo.
Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament
With Eda and Vargas leading the way, Türkiye edge forward in Tokyo
Brittany Abercombie hammers 35 points towards Puerto Rico’s win
Published 12:06, 22 Sept 2023
Turkish captain Eda Erdem in attack against Brazil
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In the first and the third sets of Türkiye’s 3-0 (25-21, 29-27, 25-19) victory over Brazil, the European side was in control for most of the time, but the second offered the spectators in the Japanese capital a spectacular battle, in which the South Americans managed to build up a four-point advantage and then the Turks caught up and stepped in front to open a five-point gap and gain five consecutive set points at 24-19. With Thaisa Menezes on the serve and Gabriela Guimaraes spearheading the offence, Brazil levelled up to push the set into overtime, but finally it was Türkiye again to take the upper hand on a Vargas swing for 29-27.
Türkiye made far too many unforced errors, 24 against 12 for the opponents, and failed to score any direct serving points, but well made up for it in attack with 53-36 in spike kills, and in blocking with 14-4 in stuffs. Opposite Melissa Vargas produced the match high of 19 points, including two kill blocks. Middle blocker Eda Erdem added four stuffs towards a 16-point match tally. Outside hitters Ebrar Karakurt and Hande Baladin also reached the double digits, putting away 11 and 10 points, respectively. Gabi was Brazil’s leading scorer with 14 points, all in attack. Opposite Rosamaria Montibeller scored 10 times, also all in offence.
Türkiye remained undefeated in five matches played, while Brazil have now lost their unbeaten status with their first loss of the tournament. Hosts Japan top the current pool standings on an impeccable record of five wins and 15-0 in sets after Friday’s 3-0 (28-26, 25-18, 25-14) shutout of Belgium, but they have yet to face the other two favourites – Türkiye on Saturday and Brazil on Sunday.
In a hard-fought first set that saw many changes in the lead, Belgium managed to push the home team to overtime, but after avoiding their first set loss of the tournament, the Japanese cruised on to convincing wins in the next two sets. Japanese outside hitter and captain Sarina Koga was the best scorer of the match with 19 points, including one block, followed by Arisa Inoue with 16 points (three blocks), Kotona Hayashi with 10 points (one ace) and Belgian middle blocker Marlies Janssens also with 10 points (two blocks, one ace).
The remaining five teams in the pool have already lost their shots at booking direct Olympic tickets from Tokyo to Paris, but continued the battles for victories and FIVB World Ranking points.
In a thrilling five-setter, Puerto Rico came back from two sets down against Argentina to celebrate a 3-2 (28-30, 19-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-8) victory. Their opposite Brittany Abercombie fired away a brilliant 35 points towards the success. Her impressive tally included three kill blocks and two aces. Her Argentinean counterpart Bianca Cugno led her team with 23 points, including an ace. Puerto Rico’s second win of the tournament lifted them to fifth in the standings on 2-3 and five points, while the South Americans are right below them on 1-4 and four.
At the bottom of the table, Bulgaria won the battle of the winless, shutting out Peru by an emphatic 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-16), registering their first victory in the pool and leaving the opponents with only a set won in five matches played. Three players reached the double digits, all on the Bulgarian side. Outside Maria Yordanova produced a match-high 15 points. Middle Borislava Saykova added another 12, while captain Miroslava Paskova-Kaneva finished with 11.
