NANJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Team Turkey forcefully swept Brazil 25-23, 25-23, 25-22 in the Volleyball Nations League semifinals on Saturday, knocking the strong world No. 4 out of gold medal contention.
Turkey rode their team effort all the way to the final as Meryem Boz and wing spiker Hande Baladin both garnered 14 points, including Boz's 14 kills from 27 attempts. Their middle blocker Zehra Gunes also contributed 10 points to the victory.
Brazilian star Tandara Caixeta was in her usual immense form with her match-leading 20 points after her remarkable performance yesterday against hosts China. But the close loss of the first set seemed to set the tone for the whole match, and the Turks continued to pour on the pressure.
"Turkey played really good today, and my players were a bit tired after the match against China yesterday," said Brazil's head coach Jose Roberto Lages.
Brazil will then be in a match-up in Sunday's play-off for third and fourth against whomever loses Saturday's night match between reigning world champions USA and world No. 1 China.
