Press release

Lima, Peru, July 28, 2011 – The FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship Peru 2011 second round concluded Thursday in Lima and Trujillo and placed all 16 teams into their respective classification semifinal pools.

The second round was comprised of four groups of four teams split into a top eight and bottom eight brackets based on results from the first-round results. Pool E and Pool F consist of the top eight teams in contention for the gold medal, while Pool G and Pool H are teams attempting to classify as high as ninth place. The top two teams from Pool E and Pool F will play in the medal round semifinals on July 30, while the remaining teams will play in their respective classification level semifinal matches. The tournament concludes on July 31 with the medal round and all final classification matches.

In Pool E in Lima on Thursday evening, Italy defeated Dominican Republic 25-19, 25-22, 20-25, 25-20 to conclude the second round, while host Peru thrilled the sold-out crowd with a five-set win over United States 21-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 15-9 at Eduardo Dibos Gymnasium on the day of the country’s independence day and inauguration of the new president. Italy won the pool, while the United States earned the group’s second entry into the gold medal semifinal round based on group points earned.

In Pool F in Trujillo, Brazil defeated China 29-27, 25-19, 25-20 in a battle of unbeaten teams in the second round to win the group. China finished second. Meanwhile, Belgium rallied past Slovakia 17-25, 11-25, 25-18, 25-21, 15-12 to place third in the group.

In Pool G in Lima, Cuba finished with a 3-0 record in the second round by defeating Japan 25-20, 25-20, 25-19. Japan finished second in the pool with a 2-1 record.  Both teams will compete in the 9-12 classification round starting July 30. Meanwhile, Korea handled Tunisia 25-17, 25-17, 25-17 to finish third in the group.

In Pool H in Trujillo, Russia edged Serbia 26-24, 19-25, 25-19, 20-25, 15-11 while Poland held off Egypt 25-14, 25-15, 23-25, 25-15 to conclude the second round. Russia ended the pool in first place with a 3-0 record, while Poland gained second place with a 2-1 record as both they and Serbia (1-2) ended with five points in the group. Egypt finished 0-3 in the group.

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

Brazil 3, China 0
Brazil (3-0 and 9 points in Pool F/6-0 overall) shut down China (2-1 and 6 points in Pool F/5-1 overall) 29-27, 25-19, 25-20 to win a battle of undefeated teams. Both squads already had qualified for the gold-medal semifinal round prior to the contest as the top two teams in the group.

Sthefanie Paulino scored a match-high 15 points for Brazil, while Samara Almeida added 14 points. China was led by Xiaoya Zhang’s 14 points, followed by Qi Wang’s 10 points. Brazil held advantages of 9-6 in blocks and 7-4 in aces.

“Today was one of our best matches,” Brazil captain Priscila Heldes said. “Now we’ll focus on winning the next match in the semifinal.”

Peru 3, United States 2
Peru (1-2 and 2 points in Pool E/4-2 overall) rallied behind a sold-out crowd of 6,500 fans at Eduardo Dibos Gymnasium to conclude the second round with a 21-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 15-9 victory over United States (1-2 and 4 points in Pool E/4-2 overall). Despite the loss, United States earned the group’s second spot into the gold-medal semifinals based on group points earned as the Americans, Peru and Dominican Republic all finished 1-2.

Grecia Herrada led five Peru players in double-digit scoring with 18 points, while Brenda Uribe, Vivian Baella and Clarivett Yllescas all added 14 points. United States’ Haley Eckerman scored 24 points, followed by Carly Wopat’s 19 points and Madelyn Hutson’s 16 points.

“This team was different from the one which played the two last matches,” Peru coach Natalia Malaga said. “USA was difficult, but today we trained quietly and this worked. Maybe it is too late, but we never stop learning. We want to be in fifth place.”

Italy 3, Dominican Republic 1
Italy (3-0 and 9 points in Pool E/5-1 overall) defeated Dominican Republic (1-2 and 3 points in Pool E/3-3 overall) 25-19, 25-22, 20-25, 25-20 to conclude the second round in Lima. Italy earned the group’s top seed into the gold-medal semifinals, while Dominican Republic dropped to 1-2 in the pool and finished third.

Italy’s Valentina Diouf posted 27 points to lead all scorers, while teammate Caterina Bosetti added 12 points in the victory. Dominican Republic was paced by Elizabeth Martinez’s 14 points and Ana Binet’s 13 points. Italy held a 16-11 advantage in blocks and 5-3 edge in aces.

"It is a big step forward,” Italy coach Marco Mencarelli said. “By making changes, we played a good game against a difficult team because of their great offensive level. The changes were very important to regain the control of the game."

Belgium 3, Slovakia 2
Belgium (1-2 and 2 points in Pool F/3-3 overall) rallied from two sets down to defeat Slovakia (0-3 and 1 point in Pool F/2-4 overall) 17-25, 11-25, 25-18, 25-21, 15-12 to conclude the group in third place.

Belgium’s Lise Van Hecke produced a match-high 30 points, while Linda Hervent and Valerie El Houssine added nine points each in the victory. Slovakia was led by Tatiana Crkonova’s 23 points, while Romana Kriskova chipped in 15 points. Belgium totaled a 14-9 block advantage to offset Slovakia 12-6 service ace margin.

“We played a good match; both teams have a great level,” Belgium coach Julien Van de Vyver said. “Peruvian people are incredible. They were really involved in our victory. We made them part of the game and I’m really thankful.”

Russia 3, Serbia 2
Russia (3-0 and 8 points in Pool H/4-2 overall) fended off Serbia (1-2 and 5 points in Pool H/2-4 overall) 26-24, 19-25, 25-19, 20-25, 15-11 to conclude Pool H undefeated in Trujillo. Russia will play in the 9-12 classification semifinal on July 30, while Serbia ends the group 1-2 with five points. Serbia finished third in the group with a 1-2 record and five points. They needed Poland to either lose to Egypt in the final Pool H match or win in five sets to advance to the 9-12 classification round. Now, both Serbia and Egypt will compete in the 13-16 classification semifinals.

Natalia Malykh scored 20 points for Russia, which had four different players in double-figure scoring including Maria Ivonkina with 14 points. Serbia was led by Ana Bjelica’s match-high 23 points and Bianka Busa’s 15 points. Serbia held a 21-11 margin in blocks and 10-8 in service aces, but Russia’s 59-46 advantage in spikes proved the difference.

“The match was awesome and exciting, luckily we won, despite that we committed plenty of mistakes,” Russia coach Vadim Kiryanov said.

Cuba 3, Japan 0
Cuba (3-0 and 9 points in Pool G/3-3 overall), after going 0-3 in their first round matches, reversed course and won all three matches in the second round after defeating Japan (2-1 and 6 points in Pool G/2-4 overall) 25-20, 25-20, 25-19 Thursday in Lima to end Pool G. Cuba won Pool G, while Japan ended 2-1 in the second-round group. Both teams will compete in the 9-12 classification semifinals contested on July 30.

Sulian Matienzo led Cuba with 14 points and Heidy Rodriguez added 13 points in the victory. Japan was led by Mari Horikawa’s match-high 18 points and Fumika Moriya’s 12 points. Cuba dominated the net with a 16-3 block advantage to offset Japan’s 7-3 margin in service aces. Japan also committed 17 errors in the match to Cuba’s eight.

“The team had a new mood and we had accumulated much experience,” Cuba coach Pupo Robinson said. “We have had support from Cuba’s Federation of Volleyball and that was determinant for winning.”

Poland 3, Egypt 1
Poland (2-1 and 5 points in Pool H/2-4 overall) defeated Egypt (0-3 and 0 points in Pool H/0-6 overall) 25-14, 25-15, 23-25, 25-15 to conclude Pool H in Trujillo, thus taking the final spot in the 9-12 classification semifinal taking place July 30. Poland finished the second round with five pool points to match Serbia, but Poland gained the tiebreak on pool record as Serbia was 1-2. Egypt ended 0-3.

Poland’s Ewa Sliwinska scored a team-high 15 points as all but the team’s libero scored at least one point. Ewelina Mikolajewska and Zuzanna Czyznielewska totaled 11 points in the victory. Egypt was led by Yasmin Hussein’s 12 points, followed by Aya Elshamy’s 11 points. Poland held a 13-5 block margin and 14-7 service ace advantage.

“A lot of the players were extremely tired,” Poland coach Grzegorz Kosatka said. “Fortunately we won this match, but not in the way we expected.”

Korea 3, Tunisia 0
Korea (1-2 and 3 points in Pool G/2-4 overall) ended Pooh G with a 25-17, 25-17, 25-17 victory over Tunisia (0-3 and 0 points in Pool G/1-5 overall) after both teams had consecutive losses to start the second-round group. The teams will compete in the 13-16 classification semifinals.

Young-Eun Jang totaled 11 points for Korea as nine different players scored at least one point. Seung-Ju Pyo added nine points in the victory. Tunisia was led by Ghalia Ouderni’s 13 points.

“In our first match we won over Poland 3-2 and now to Tunisia for 3-0,” Korea coach Gi-Ju Park said. “We were very proud of it. Today, excuse me for what I'm going to say (looking at Tunisia coach), but they were not our opponents.”

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

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
8 – Danica Radenkovic (Serbia) in 3-2 loss to Poland on July 26
8 – Ana Beatriz Correa (Brazil) in 3-1 win over Italy 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
5 – Nikola Radosova (Slovakia) in 3-0 win over Egypt on July 23
5 – Yasmin Hussein (Egypt) in 3-2 loss to Tunisia on July 24
5 – Priscila Heldes (Brazil) in 3-0 win over Cuba on July 24
5 – Sthefanie Paulino (Brazil) in 3-0 win over Cuba on July 24

Highest Set Score
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

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
196 – Poland def. Serbia 25-21, 25-17, 14-25, 18-25, 15-11 in second round on July 26 in Trujillo

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