09-Nov, start time: 15:00, end time: 17:03 - Attendance: 5,830

USA	3	24	25	26	22	15	112
TUR	2	26	22	24	25	10	107

Match Description:

The fast and delicate setting of Urcu Bahar helped Turkey to put early points on the board but USA's dominant attackers Prikeba Phipps and captain Danielle Scott were playing a "don't-mess-with-us" game also at the net to give USA a 15-13 lead. Then Turkey's Natalia Hanikoglu hammered home a spike, teammates slapped down two more points and they were 16-15 in front. A spike error gave USA 22-19 but Neslihan Demir, a superbly talented 19-year-old, drew Turkey back to within a point then combined with some excellent blocking to give Turkey the first set 26-24.

Turkey started strongly in the second set for 8-6 and lengthened to 11-9 before Heather Brown unleashed a spike that narrowed the gap and Phipps served to equalize at 12-12. USA eventually hit the front at 17-16 and lengthened to 22-18. Nancy Metcalf pounded home a shot for USA's first set point and the Americans bagged the second set 25-22.

USA took an early advantage in the third but never completely controlled the action against the talented Turks and they were equal at 24-all until Scott delivered the shot to give USA a 26-24, 2-1 lead.
Turkey had an answer for most of USA's moves in the fourth set and led 24-22. Then Esra Gumus delivered the point that forced the tiebreaker.
But the Americans fended off the Turkish challenge, held their nerves and dominated the decider to come out 15-10 for their sixth victory.

Comments:

YAZICIOGULLARI, Resat (TUR Head Coach)
" I would like to congratulate the USA on their victory. I thought my team played very well, but we lost in the end because of a lack of experience. There were two very good teams on the floor tonight, just not enough good referees out there."

NESLIHAN, Demir (TUR)
" The USA has a very good team, and I would like to congratulate them on winning. We played at the same level as they did tonight, but they won in the end because of their experience."

YOSHIDA, Toshiaki (USA Head Coach)
" I expected a tough match, and it was. We played Turkey in June in Russia, and it was quite a similar match. Turkey is a very good team with very good weapons, and they understand how to play volleyball. Our service receiving wasn't very good tonight."

SCOTT, Danielle (USA Captain)
" Coming into this tournament, we knew every team is a good team. We have to play each match with confidence and we have to play our best each match in order to win."

Official Result:

Match statistics (P-2) - PDF