Brazil, China and Italy claim first semifinal spots

The first three spots in the semifinals of the 2023 FIVB Women’s U21 Volleyball World Championship were taken on Tuesday, the second day of matches in the second round of the tournament, in Leon and Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Brazil, China and Italy are already confirmed among the national teams that will play in the medal rounds later this week, while Japan and Serbia will compete for the fourth and final spot in the semifinals on Wednesday, when the second round will be completed.

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

Undefeated with two wins in Pool H, based in Aguascalientes, Brazil and Italy have overcome the competition of Türkiye and the United States and can no longer be caught by their opponents. South Americans and Europeans will play each other on Wednesday, at 17:00 local time (23:00 UTC), with the winners finishing first in the pool and the losers advancing in second place.

One day after ending Türkiye’s winning streak in Aguascalientes, Brazil had another flawless performance to beat the United States and advance. The South Americans were dominant from the start and topped the USA 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-22) to confirm their presence in the semifinals.

Three Brazilian players reached double digits in scoring against the Americans – outside hitter Helena Wenk, with 14 points (11 kills, two aces, one block), opposite Gabriela Carneiro, with 13 (ten kills, three blocks), and middle blocker Juliana Gandra, with 12 (nine kills, one ace, two blocks).

On the American side, middle blocker Elizabeth Andrew, with eight points (seven kills, one block), was the most productive player.

In the other match of the pool, Italy swept Türkiye 3-0 (25-6, 29-27, 25-21) and also advanced to the semifinals. Outside hitter Dominika Giuliani and opposite Anna Adelusi split the scoring efforts with 16 points each, while outside hitter Miray Gözübüyük was the main Turkish scorer with 15 points.

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

In Leon, China claimed the first Pool E spot in the semifinals by securing their second victory in the second round of the U21 World Championship. The Asians, who had swept Mexico on Monday, took Japan down with a 3-1 (25-15, 25-11, 21-25, 25-16) win to get to six points and move forward.

Outside hitter and team captain Yushan Zhuang was China’s main scorer once again with 15 points (all in kills), followed by middle blocker Jieya Zeng, who tallied 14 (eight kills, five aces, one block). Outside hitter Megumi Fukazawa delivered 14 points (12 kills, two blocks) for Japan.

“We’re very happy with the victory and that we managed to advance,” Zeng reflected. “We had some struggles on the third set and ended up losing it. I think our blocking was very efficient today and that helped. Going forward, we need to continue blocking and serving well.”

Later, Serbia and Mexico played for their survival in the tournament and the Europeans were the winners, claiming a 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-20) victory and eliminating the hosts. Serbian outside hitter Ksenija Tomic had 18 points (13 kills, three aces, two blocks), the same amount as Mexican middle blocker Ximena Cruz, who registered impressive eight blocks to go with eight kills and two aces.

Serbia, with four points, and Japan, with two, will play for the second Pool E spot in the semifinals on Friday. The Europeans will play pool leaders China at 17:00 local time (23:00 UTC), while the Asians will meet host Mexico at 20:00 local time (02:00 UTC, Thursday).

The playoffs from 9^th-16^th place also continued in Mexico, with four more matches played on Tuesday. In Leon, on Pool G, Argentina overcame Thailand 3-0 (29-27, 25-22, 25-19) and Poland swept Egypt 3-0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-17). In Aguascalientes, the Netherlands topped the Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-19) and Cuba defeated Tunisia 3-1 (16-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-14) on Pool H.

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