Deaflympics – Indoor Volleyball
- July 19-28, 2017
- Mustafa Dagistanli Spor Salonu
- Samsun, Turkey
- Results
Turkey won the gold medal, while Ukraine and Russia rounded out the podium on the men’s side. Japan won the women’s gold, followed by Italy and the United States.
The Deaflympics have been contested every four years since 1924 except during World War II. Deaflympians must have hearing loss of at least 55 decibels in their better ear. Hearing aids, cochlear implants and other aids are not allowed in the competition.
The Deaflympics featured 238 athletes from 10 countries competing in 21 sports. Both volleyball and beach volleyball were contested at the event. Teams from Brazil, Canada, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States and Venezuela battled for the indoor volleyball title, which has been awarded since 1979.
Men’s Gold Medal match
Turkey def. Ukraine 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-23)
Hilmi Kaan Cicek scored a team-best 20 points to pace Turkey in the gold medal victory. Kadir Akyildiz added 11 points.
Cicek put down a match-high 18 kills and added a block and an ace. Akyldiz chipped in eight kills, two aces and a block. As a team, the Turkish side managed seven less kills (40-33), but outblocked their foes 6-5 and outserved them 5-1.
For the Ukraine, Illia Nikiforov put down a team-best nine kills and added two blocks. Oleksii Koshkarov and Oleksandr Poltoratskyi followed with eight putaways each.
Men’s Bronze Medal match
Russia def. Iran 3-1 (25-17, 24-26, 25-16, 25-23)
The Russians outdid the Iranians 48-37 in kills, 14-10 in blocks and tied their foes with four aces apiece in a four-set win over Iran for the bronze medal.
Georgy Pleshkevich led the way for Russia with 27 points, including a match-leading 21 kills, three blocks and a team-best three aces. Alexander Shuvaev added 16 points, all on kills. Aleksey Petrochenko put up a team-leading four blocks and added five kills.
Three players posted double-digit point efforts for Iran. Vahid Talebi Delouei and Jafar Alizadeh tallied 12 points apiece, while Saeid Ghafouri Hosseinabad followed with 10 points. Talebi Delouei posted a team-best 10 kills, while the other two players added nine apiece. Mahmood Alimardani led the team with four blocks.
Women’s Gold Medal match
Japan def. Italy 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-17)
Japan served up 11 aces and dominated the offensive side of the ball to the tune of 35-14 lead in kills in an easy sweep of Italy for the Deaflympics Indoor Volleyball women’s title.
Italy did come through with eight blocks, while limiting Japan to just one in the match, but it was not enough to overcome the deficits in kills and aces (11-2).
Sayuri Hiraoka managed 12 points, while Aimi Ozuka added 11 to pace the Japanese effort. Each put down nine kills, while Hiraoka served up three aces. Mio Nakata accounted for four of Japan’s 11 aces.
Vanessa Caboni scored seven points, with a match-high four blocks and three kills, to lead the Italians, while Alice Tomat followed with six points, including five kills.
Women’s Bronze Medal match
USA def. Ukraine 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-22)
The United States dominated Ukraine in every area in a sweep for the bronze medal. The Americans pounded down 40 kills, while allowing just 19. The team also won the block (6-4) and the serve (10-7 in aces).
Four American players scored in double figures with Katelyn De Reese and Abby Garrity leading the way with 13 apiece. Kali LeAnn Frowick and Adele Daniels followed with 12 points each. Daniels and Frowick downed 10 kills apiece, while Garrity chipped in nine putaways and three aces. Reese managed a team-leading three blocks.
Khrystyna Ridosh led the Ukrainians with 11 points, tallying six aces and five kills. Inha Semizenko put down a team-best six kills, while Iryna Miroshnikova put up two blocks.
Leave a Reply