China, Japan, Brazil and Italy start the second round strong

After a rest day, the 2023 FIVB Women’s U21 Volleyball World Championship continued on Monday, with the start of the second round, and China, Japan, Brazil and Italy secured important victories in Leon and Aguascalientes.

The four teams are now one step closer to the semifinals, sitting at the top of Pools E (China and Japan) and F (Brazil and Italy) with two more matches to be played.

The tournament is streamed live on the Volleyball World YouTube channel.

In Leon, Japan secured a dramatic five-set victory against Serbia, producing a 3-2 (25-19, 18-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-13) win to start ahead in Pool E. The Asians, who won all their three pool play matches in the first round of the tournament, remain undefeated.

Outside hitters Megumi Fukuzawa and Amika Saiki were the main scorers in the Japanese triumph. Fukuzawa got 26 points with 25 kills and one block while Saiki added 20 with 19 kills and one block. With 19 points (all in kills), outside hitter Una Vajagic was the most productive Serbian player.

“I don’t feel like I managed to play at my best level during the entire match, but I was excited to help the team win at the end,” Saiki commented. “Our entire team did a great job today and our setter (Saki Iwamoto) trusted me to score the last point. I was very confident that I was going to be able to put the ball down.”

Later in Leon, China delivered Mexico and their loud fans a 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 26-24) victory to surpass the Japanese at the top of the standings. Chinese captain Yushan Zhuang led all scorers with 21 points (19 kills, two blocks), followed by middle blocker Jieya Zeng, who got 12 (eight kills, two aces, two blocks). Outside hitter Alexandra Goris got eight points (six kills, one ace, one block) for Mexico.

Japanese and Chinese will meet on Tuesday, at 17:00 local time (23:00 UTC), and the winners of that encounter will be very close to the semifinals. Later, at 20:00 local time (02:00 UTC, Wednesday), Mexico and Serbia will meet in need of a victory to remain alive in the tournament.

**2023 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U21 World Championship: Match Schedule and Results**

In Pool F, in Aguascalientes, Italy won a difficult battle with the United States, securing a 3-1 (25-19, 25-10, 32-34, 25-17) victory to also continue a winning streak on the tournament. Outside hitters Dominika Giuliani and Stella Nervini led the Italian offense with 16 points each, while team captain Emerson Sellman was the main American offensive piece, delivering 12 points.

In the other match of the pool, Brazil took down one of the three undefeated teams entering the second round, Türkiye, with an emphatic 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-13) win. Opposite Gabriela Carneiro played an extraordinary match for the South Americans, leaving the court with 21 points (19 kills, one ace, one block). Opposite Beren Yesilirmak was the only Turkish player to reach double digits in scoring with 11 points, all in kills.

The second day of matches of the second round will have Italy facing Türkiye at 17:00 local time (23:00 UTC) and Brazil and the United States clashing at 20:00 local time (02:00 UTC, Wednesday). If Italians and Brazilians win again, they will both be guaranteed in the semifinals.

The first day of matches of the second round of the tournament also featured four matches from the playoffs for positions 9th-16^th. In Pool G, based in Leon, Poland topped Thailand 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-21) and Egypt overcame Argentina 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 31-29, 15-6).

In Aguascalientes, Cuba defeated the Dominican Republic 3-1 (17-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-21) and the Netherlands swept Tunisia 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-16) in Pool H.

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