A place in the World's top ten: Turkey beat Kazakhstan 3-0
Modena, Italy. October 5, 2014 – A victory worth a place in the World’s top 10, against the team that has already made history for their country by just participating. Turkey’s ambitions clashed with Kazakhstan’s hopes in the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship Italy 2014 Pool F, and the final result respected the odds: the Turkish won their last match of the tournament by 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-14).
Turkey’s Neriman Ozsoy was the best scorer of the match with 13 points, while Sana Anarkulova led the score table for Kazakhstan with 11. The Turkish dominated the game in serving (10 aces to 1) and blocking (8 to 5); receiving errors will also be an issue for Kazakhstan, as they made 13 in only three sets.
Key facts:
• Turkey and Kazakhstan had never met at the World Championships before.
• Turkey have won their last three matches at the World Championship: they had never won three consecutive games in the competition before.
• Kazakhstan have failed to win a set in the second round: 3-0 defeats against Brazil, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey.
• The last 11 world championship matches involving Kazakhstan have ended in straight sets (W2-L9).
Turkey started strong on Bahar Toksoy-Guidetti’s serve (5:0), but Kazakhstan immediately caught up with three points in three offensive attempts by Tatyana Mudritskaya (5:5). Toksoy, pushed by her husband’s fellow citizens, was on fire with a 100% efficiency over the first five attacks, and captain Gozde Sonsirma’s serve contributed in providing Turkey a significant lead (13:9). An almost flawless offensive percentage gave Turkey the chance to increase their advantage: Polen Uslupehlivan closed the set with 100% efficiency, too (21:15) and Neriman Oszoy’s seventh point of the set closed it (25:15).
Ozsoy started the second set the same way she had closed the first: on fire, with three more points (5:2) worth another early lead. Sana Anakulova’s attacks from zone 4 kept Kazakhstan at a reasonable distance (7:4), but Turkey could escape once again with Seda Tokatioglu’s zone 2 attacks (13:7). An ace by Ozsoy and Sonsirma’s attacks, as well as Kazakhstan’s inaccurate serve, provided Turkey an advantage in double digits (20:10) that Massimo Barbolini’s players did not waste (25:13).
In the third set the Kazakh fought with pride, led by team star Mudritskaya (7:7): the first team in Kazakhstan’s 28 years of history to qualify for the second round of an international competition would not bow without fighting, but Turkey once again proved too strong and took a six-point advantage (14:8) after a stunning exchange that lasted more than 30 seconds, and was rewarded by Modena’s 4,200 supporters with a standing ovation. It was Kazakhstan’s best effort, and Turkey did not find any opposition in the rest of the set and closed the match (25:14), gaining a well-deserved place in the World’s top ten.