Press release

Lima, Peru, July 31, 2011 – Italy captured the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship Peru 2011 gold medal Sunday evening with a 21-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-22 victory over top-ranked Brazil at Eduardo Dibos Gymnasium in Lima, Peru.

Italy’s best previous finish in the tournament was the silver medal in 1997, their only other medal in the 16 editions of the tournament. Italy, ranked 12th in the FIVB youth and junior girls’ world rankings, did not qualify for the tournament in 2009 after a fifth-place finish in 2007. The current group was part of the eighth-place finish at the 2009 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship.

Brazil has now medaled in 11 times and seven consecutive times while participating in all 16 editions of the biennial tournament. The current Brazil squad as a group had not lost a match in the past four years, including winning the 2009 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship.

The final day placed all 16 countries into their final positions through classification matches held in Lima (positions 1-8) and Callao (positions 9-16).

In the bronze-medal match, China rallied to defeat United States 20-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-23 in Lima. With the bronze, China now has medaled 10 times in the event and improves upon their 10th-place finish two years ago. United States matched their best finish with the fourth-place position also obtained in 2007.

Dominican Republic defeated Peru 23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 at Lima to place fifth. During the second round, Dominican Republic defeated Peru in three sets on July 27. Slovakia concluded the tournament with a 25-23, 25-12, 29-31, 25-20 victory over Belgium in Lima to place seventh.

Poland beat Russia 25-19, 25-19, 19-25, 25-16 at Callao to finish the tournament in ninth position. Japan topped Cuba 25-19, 25-13, 25-22 in the 11th-place match in Callao.

Serbia gained a 25-19, 25-16, 25-18 victory over Korea in the 13th-place match in Callao. Egypt defeated Tunisia 23-25, 27-25, 25-14, 25-17 in the 15th-place match, marking the country’s first victory in the tournament and their first-ever win in the tournament history. Earlier in the tournament ,Tunisia won a five-set match over Egypt to conclude the first round on July 24.

The top four positions represented four different continental confederations in South America/CSV (Brazil), Europe/CEV (Italy), Asia/AVC (China) and North America/NORCECA (United States). In positions 5-8, three different confederations were represented by Belgium and Slovakia for CEV, Dominican Republic for NORCECA and Peru for CSV.

Italy’s Caterina Bosetti was named the tournament’s most valuable player as well as Best Spiker. Lise Van Hecke (Belgium) was named Best Scorer and Best Server, Zhou Yang (China) earned Best Blocker, Di Yao (China) was the Best Setter, Lucia Nikmonova (Slovakia) earned Best Receiver and Natalie Hagglund (United States) was selected Best Libero.

Live scoring, results, news and photos on FIVB Volleyball Women's Junior World Championship Peru 2011.

Italy 3, Brazil 1 (Gold-Medal Match)
Italy won their first-ever gold medal in the tournament with a 21-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-22 victory over Brazil Sunday night in Lima. Brazil had defeated Italy on the opening day of the tournament in four  sets, but the Italians atoned the loss on the final day of the tournament.

Valentina Diouf led Italy with a match-high 22 points while Caterina Bosetti added 20 points in the victory. Laura Baggi added 10 points. Brazil was led by Gabriela Souza’s 16 points, followed by Ana Beatriz Correa’s 12 points. Samara Almeida charted 10 points in the loss. Italy held a 12-6 advantage in blocks and 8-6 margin in aces. Brazil committed 28 errors in the match to Italy’s 21.

“As I said in the first match, in order to defeat Brazil was necessary a perfect match,” Italy coach Marco Mencarelli said. “Today our block and attack was really good.”

China 3, United States 1 (Bronze-Medal Match)
China captured the bronze medal with a 20-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-23 victory over United States in Lima. The victory represented China’s 10th medal in the 16 editions of the tournament, while United States’ fourth-place finish matches their previous best classification.

Zhou Yang totaled a team-high 18 points with seven blocks in leading China, while Yanchi Pi added 16 points. Qi Wang and Xiaoya contributed 10 points in the victory. Haley Eckerman led United States with 18 points, while Kelly Reeves added 15 points and Haleigh Hampton 13 points. China held a 15-5 advantage in blocks and an 8-6 edge in service aces.

“USA is a good team, strong and with good matches yesterday against Brazil and today. We were tired, but now we are happy for the victory.”

Dominican Republic 3, Peru 1 (5th Place Match)
Dominican Republic finished the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship Peru 2011 with a 23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 victory over host Peru in front 6,500 fans in Lima.

Elizabeth Martinez paced Dominican Republic with a match-high 24 points, while Marianne Fersola added 14 points and Yonkaira Pena notched 13 points. Peru was led by Brenda Uribe and Clarivett Yllescas scoring 10 points, while Grecia Herrada charted nine points. Dominican Republic held a 10-4 margin in blocks and 6-2 advantage in service aces.

“We are happy for winning,” Dominican Republic captain Gabriela Reyes said. “We are proud and we will continue working. We had worked so hard to be here.”

Slovakia 3, Belgium 1 (7th Place Match)
Slovakia secured seventh place by defeating Belgium 25-23, 25-12, 29-31, 25-20 in Lima.

Nikola Radosova led Slovakia with a match-high 20 points while Tatiana Crkonova and Romana Kriskova added 18 points each in the victory. Belgium was led by Lise Van Hecke’s 14 points and Lorena Cianci’s 13 points. Slovakia held advantages of 61-41 in attacks, 14-11 in blocks and 9-4 in aces.

“Congratulations to Belgium for its level,” Slovakia coach Marek Rojko said. “This was also my last match with the national delegations after two seasons. We had problems with the attack during the entire tournament. Fortunately, today was different and we are proud of it.”

Poland 3, Russia 1 (9th Place Match)
Poland won their final three matches of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship Peru 2011 to finish in ninth place after defeating Russia 25-19, 25-19, 19-25, 25-16 in Callao. During the second round Russia had defeated Poland in three sets.

Zuzanna Czyznielewska led four Poland players in double-figure scoring with 16 points, while Ewelina Mikolajewska charted 15 points. Justyna Sosnowska and Emilia Mucha added 12 points each. Russia was led by Natalia Malykh’s 16 points, while Yana Manzyuk and Valeriya Safonova each scored nine points. Poland served 17 aces in the victory and held a 47-39 advantage in attacks.

“I want to go back home and enjoy this victory with my friends,” Poland captain Emilia Kajzer said. “We are happy for having got the 9th place.”

Japan 3, Cuba 0 (11th Place Match)
Japan downed Cuba 25-19, 25-13, 25-22 at Callao to finish in 11th place in the tournament.

Fumika Moriya scored a match-high 15 points for Japan and was followed by Mari Horikawa’s 12 points in the victory. Cuba’s Sulian Matienzo notched a team-high 11 points, while Heidy Rodriguez chipped in 10 points in the loss. Japan’s serve created problems for Cuba with a 14-4 ace advantage. Cuba also committed 19 errors while Japan limited their mistakes to nine in the match. Cuba held a 10-4 margin in blocks.

"We are very glad over the victory,” said Horikawa, Japan’s captain. “We defended too much and we wanted to be aggressive in the attack. Their height was a problem, but we really wanted to win. I feel that we were very concentrated and that helped us a lot."

Serbia 3, Korea 0 (13th Place Match)
Serbia ended the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship Peru 2011 on a high note by winning their final two matches including a 25-19, 25-16, 25-18 victory over Korea in the 13th-place match in Callao.

Ljubica Kecman scored a match-high 18 points for Serbia, including six of her team’s 16 blocks in the match. Maja Savic added 13 points in the victory, while Jovana Stevanovic tallied 10 points. Korea was led by Ji-Soo Kim and Eon-Hye Kim with nine points. Serbia held a 41-28 advantage in attack points, along with a 16-4 block margin.

“This was a difficult competition for us,” Serbia captain Danica Radenkovic said. “We played with very strong teams in the first round of this competition and for these reason we couldn´t play for a better place. Today on the final day we can win and this is good for my team.”

Egypt 3, Tunisia 1 (15th Place Match)
Egypt made history with a 23-25, 27-25, 25-14, 25-17 victory over Tunisia in the 15th-place match at Callao. Not only was the victory their first in the tournament, but first-ever in the history of the tournament. On the final day of the first round, Tunisia won their first match ever in the tournament over Egypt.

Yasmin Hussein led Egypt with a match-high 21 points, while Aya Elshamy added 18 points and Nirmeen Seifelnasr contributed 18 points. Tunisia was led by Maroua Boughanmi’s 19 points and Ghalia Ouderni scored 13 points. Egypt held a 13-7 margin in blocks and both teams notched seven aces. Egypt out-scored Tunisia 52-45 in attack points.

“Today was a good game for us,” said Hussein, Egypt’s captain. “After we lost the last match with Tunisia, we trained hard to win a match. We played like a real group and for this reason we were able to win”

Most Valuable Player: Caterina Bosetti (Italy)
Best Scorer: Lise Van Hecke (Belgium)
Best Spiker: Caterina Bosetti (Italy)
Best Blocker: Zhou Yang (Italy)
Best Server: Lise Van Hecke (Belgium)
Best Setter: Di Yao (China)
Best Receiver: Lucia Nikmonova (Slovakia)
Best Libero: Natalie Hagglund (United States)

Highest Scorer by Day
Day 1 (July 22): 22 points by Zhou Yang (China) in 3-1 win over Russia; Aleksandra Sikorska (Poland) in 3-2 loss to Korea; and Gabriela Souza (Brazil) in 3-1 win over Italy
Day 2 (July 23): 37 points by Lise Van Hecke (Belgium) in 3-1 win over Korea
Day 3 (July 24): 40 points by Lise Van Hecke (Belgium) in 3-1 win over Poland
Day 4 (July 26): 21 points by Yunieska Robles (Cuba) in 3-1 win over Korea; Lise Van Hecke (Belgium) in 3-0 loss to Brazil
Day 5 (July 27): 24 points by Valentina Diouf (Italy) in 3-1 win over United States
Day 6 (July 28): 30 points by Lise Van Hecke (Belgium) in 3-2 win over Slovakia
Day 7 (July 30): 25 points by Haley Eckerman (United States) in 3-2 loss to Brazil
Day 8 (July 31): 24 points by Elizabeth Martinez (Dominican Republic) in 3-1 win over Peru

Top 5 Scoring Performances
40 – Lise Van Hecke (Belgium) in 3-1 win over Poland on July 24
37 – Lise Van Hecke (Belgium) in 3-1 win over Korea on July 23
30 – Lise Van Hecke (Belgium) in 3-2 win over Slovakia on July 28
27 – Zuzanna Czyznielewska (Poland) in 3-1 loss to Belgium on July 24
27 – Valentina Diouf (Italy) in 3-1 win over Dominican Republic on July 28

Top Blocking Performances
14 – Zhou Yang (China) in 3-1 win over Japan on July 23
12 – Aleksandra Sikorska (Poland) in 3-2 loss to Korea on July 22

Top Service Ace Performances
7 – Fumika Moriya (Japan) in 3-0 win over Tunisia on July 26
6 – Lise Van Hecke (Belgium) in 3-1 win over Korea on July 23
6 – Lise Van Hecke (Belgium) in 3-1 loss to Peru on July 30

Highest Set Score
31-29 (Belgium versus Slovakia) in 7th-place match on July 31 in Lima
29-27 (USA versus Poland) in first round played on July 23 in Trujillo
29-27 (Serbia versus Egypt) in second round played on July 27 in Trujillo
29-27 (Brazil versus China) in second round played on July 28 in Trujillo
27-25 (China versus Russia) in first round played on July 22 in Lima
27-25 (Peru versus Belgium) in semifinal round on July 30 in Lima
27-25 (Egypt versus Tunisia) in 15th-place match on July 31 in Callao

Highest Scoring Matches
220 – Tunisia def. Egypt 26-24, 25-22, 21-25, 20-25, 17-15 in first round on July 24 in Trujillo
213 – Korea def. Poland 22-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-19, 15-10 in first round on July 22 in Trujillo
209 – Russia def. Serbia 26-24, 19-25, 25-19, 20-25, 15-11 in second round on July 27 in Trujillo
206 – Peru def. United States 21-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 15-9 in second round on July 28 in Lima
204 – Brazil def. United States 25-15, 25-19, 20-25, 20-25, 16-14 in semifinal round on July 30 in Lima
199 – Russia def. Japan 23-25, 25-16, 25-17, 17-25, 15-11 in final round on July 30 in Callao

Live scoring, results, news and photos on http://www.fivb.org/EN/Volleyball/Competitions/Junior/Women/2011/index.asp.
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