Turkish girls benefit from home advantage in semi-final – 2011 CEV Girls Youth Championships
The 2011 CEV Girls’ Youth European Volleyball Championship is covering its final stage in Ankara, Turkey.
The home team performed exquisitely well throughout the campaign and clawed its way to the semi-final match. Joining them from other side was Serbian team, which had a slightly better win/loss ratio in Pool II.
The semi-final was the real test of Turkey’s capabilities. The home team had the enormous support of local fans and they had spent enough time in practice at the same court. They profited from the advantage of playing at home soil and defeated the Serbian
Team by posting 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-22, and 25-21) victory. Turkey settled for a final encounter with Italy on Sunday, May 8, 2011.
It was only two days ago that Turkey broke the winning streak of Serbia and defeated them in a thrilling match. The success in last match set a clear path for Turks to demonstrate another stellar performance against Serbia. The Baskent Sports Hall was totally
packed up with the passionate Turkish volleyball fans.
Turks kicked things off with convincing jump-serves. Seyma Arisan of home side produced serves, which gave a real hard time to the libero of Serbian team. The hosts picked up a lead of 8-7 at the first technical timeout. Serbian Bianka Busa hit nice cross
court shots but Serbia suffered the damage due to frequent reception errors. Turks easily maintained their lead and took the next jump to 16-11 at the second technical timeout. As the Turks spent time on court, they attained a great rhythm.
Serbian team trailed behind and failed to catch up with the speed of Turks. The uproar of fans encouraged the home squad to quickly cover the length of first set. The home team really sparked on the scene and secured first set by posting 25-17. The strategy
and game plan of Turkish head coach, Marco Aurelio Motta worked out great results in the opening set. He urged the players to keep up the same energy for rest of the game and clinch success against Serb rivals.
The game entered second set, while Serbia was all up for the revenge. Serbian Mina Tomic staged a heavy strike of volleys and put her team in early lead of 4-1. Moreover, the captain girl of Serbia Bianka Busa joined hands with Tomic and both developed a
great chemistry between them. They hit the ball in right spots and promptly raised their score to 8-1 at the first technical timeout.
After a good start in opening set, Turkish squad seem scattered in the second set. Serbs earned a strong spot and totally hindered the performance of Turkish girls. The game progressed in the same fashion. Turks failed to poke the ball in Serbian half as
most of their attack attempts were dismissed on the net.
Turkey could only add five more points in their score, while Serbia reached 16 at the next mandatory stop. Turkish opposite Ece Hocaoglu put up good effort and played a vital role to lessen the gap of points. However, she got injured and was called off the
court. Her absence made it quite easy for Serbia to hit the equaliser. Serbs settled for second victory by posting 25-22 on the board.
Turks came out of blues in the third set. They paid more attention to their defence and block, which helped them save crucial points. In the meanwhile, the spikers did a great job and Turkish score soared up. The useful lead of 5 points enabled hosts to
catch the limelight. They widened the gap of point and did not lose the spot. Turks showed nerves and rocked the podium with 25-22 victory in third set.
Turkey was once again in the leading role. They remained on the winning track in fourth set and pushed Serbia behind. Baskent Sports Hall echoed the victory slogans of Turk fans.
Eventually, the hosts confirmed their ambition to play in the final and pulled off success in fourth set. Serbia could not tie the score and dropped the final set with a margin of four points.
Tags: