Turkey grabs the semi-final spot at the 2012 European Olympic Qualifiers – Volleyball News
Women’s National Volleyball Team of Turkey clinched a berth in the semi-final of 2012 European Olympic Qualification Tournament by claiming third match in row on Thursday. Turkey is hosting the crucial Olympic qualifying stage and so far the team had done
extremely well. The hosts completed the winning streak of three matches and defeated Germany on day-3 of the competition.
The match covered its length in four sets, while Turkish ladies came on top with three sets to one, 3-1 (18-25, 25-16, 25-23, 30-28). Totally sold out Baskent sports hall in Ankara, Turkey hosted the match. The emotional support of home audience and advantage
of familiar conditions worked in the favour of home team. Turkey defeated Bulgaria and Croatia in the first two matches, and finished the pool-play by edging out Germany in third match. Victory simply allowed Turkey to reserve a berth in the semi-final match,
which is scheduled to be held on Saturday.
Germany dropped the decision but the top-scorer of the match was named from the losing side. Margareta Anna KOZUCH put up great fight with Turks and added match-high 18 points. Neslihan DARNEL of Turkey settled for the second best-scorer’s position by scoring
16 points.
In front of the strange audience, German team staged a great show of volleyball in the first set of the match. They showed no sign of intimidation and played in their usual style. They quickly jumped to an early lead of 8-4 at the first technical timeout,
while the home team kept trying to grasp the game plan of opponents. However, Germany led the scores all the way till end and claimed opening set by sending 25-18 on board.
Following the loss of opening set, Turkey came up with massive attacks. Darnel devastated the opposite side with killing spikes, while Esra Gumus saved many crucial points by digging and diving. Turks brought the game to an even point by winning second set
and continued with success thereafter. They added back-to-back wins and pulled off success in the four-set match.
Turkish mentor Marco Aurelio Motta shared his views after the match and pointed out quite a few things. He said, "It was a though match. The German team served well in the first set so we could not start the match well. We were better in the second set
as this time we served well. In the last two sets both teams played very well and I think these two sets have been the best sets for volleyball spectators so far in the tournament".
His German counterpart Guidetti stated, “Turkey played well. It was not a surprising result because their players come from very successful teams. I strongly believe that Turkey will qualify for the Olympic Games because they are so determined to achieve
this goal".
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