FIVB U21 Championships
- June 23-July 2, 2017
- Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
- Schedule/Results
Pool H
Turkey 3, Ukraine 1 (19-25, 25-20 25-17, 25-20)
Japan 3, Morocco 1 (25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 25-21)
Turkey won three straight sets and took advantage of Ukrainian errors in a four-set win, while Japan dominated the offensive statistics in a four-setter against Morocco to start the second stage of the U21 Championships.
Turkey 3, Ukraine 1
Turkey rebounded from a Set 1 loss and capitalized on 31 Ukrainian miscues in a four-set win on Tuesday. The Turkish side bested their foes in kills (49-47) and blocks (9-5) and had help from eight more errors in the win. Ukraine did win the service battle 7-5.
“We made too many easy mistakes in the first set,” Turkish captain Abdullah Cam said. “We recovered from that in the second one and we beat them.”
The Ukrainians cruised to a 25-19 Set 1 win behind seven points by Oleh Piotnytsky and led early in Set 2, but Turkey rallied to take a 16-14 lead and went on to even the match at one set apiece. Turkey jumped ahead 17-8 in Set 3 en route to a 25-17 win. After a tie at 10-all in Set 4, the Turks closed it out capitalizing on poor defense by their foes in a 25-20 win.
“During the first set we had a solid performance with a good score as a result,” Ukrainian captain Tymofii Poluian said. “We needed to prove that we came to this tournament to belong in a top eight position and I am not satisfied.”
Adis Lagumdzija led all scorers with 21 points for Turkey, including 16 kills, three blocks and two aces. Cam Abdullah added 15 points, while Avci Batuhan chipped in 11. Abdullah downed 14 kills, while Batuhan scored on eight kills and two blocks.
Plotnytskyi led Ukraine with 16 points, including 13 kills and two aces. Poluian added 13 points, with 10 kills and two aces. Andrii Rohozhyn registered 12 points, with 10 kills and two blocks.
Japan 3, Morocco 1
Japan racked up 61 kills, while allowing just 44 in a four-set win over Morocco to start the second round of U21 play. The kill differential was key in the match as the Japanese needed it to overcome 31 miscues in the match. Japan won the blocking battle 7-6, while Morocco outserved them 4-2.
“Our service and blocks were not good enough in the third set and we tried harder in the fourth set,” Japanese captain Kenta Takanashi said.
Kento Miyaura managed a match-leading 21 points, with 19 kills and two blocks to pace Japan. Kenyu Nakamoto added 14 points, with 11 kills, two stuffs and an ace.
Morocco was led by 15 points each by Oussama Elazhari and Youssef Aatata. Elazhari downed 13 kills, while Aatata notched kills, two blocks and two aces.
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