Turkey finish in fifth place

Tijuana, Mexico, October 12, 2013 - Turkey finished their participation in the fifth place after a victory over Italy in straight sets on Saturday.

The team coached by Mehme Bedestenliouglu won by scores of 25-17, 25-20, 25-22 after 1 hour and 11 minutes of action at the Baja California High Performance Center.

Turkish captain Gözde Yilmaz scored 15 points, while Seyma Ercan finished with 13 and Guc Ezgi had 11 tallies. For Italy Laura Partenio and Anna Nicoletti scored 11 apiece.

Block and service were key for Turkey after finishing with a 12-6 in block kills. Individually Asli Kalac and Nur Özge Yurtagülen were the top blockers with 4 and 3 kills, respectively.

Turkey aced five times against none by Italy. Alikaya Gamze had two and Seyma Ercan had one successful service. Italy tried to get back in the third set, however, Turkey could get back in the match with a good and solid defense, thanks to libero Hatice Orge (5 successful digs) and the captain Yimlaz, who digged the ball in three dangerous situations that had give Italy a chance to force a fourth set.

This was the third time a team coached by Bedestenlioglu compete in an age group world championship celebrated in Baja California, after the editions of 2007 and 2009. In those three times He and his players has finished in the top 8 in tournaments celebrated in Mexico, including a silver medal at the Girls Youth Championship of 2007.