Italian, Turkish teams sweep semifinal berths at FIVB Women's Club Worlds

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Clubs from Italy and Turkey swept the semifinal berths at the FIVB Women's Club World Championship by winning their last pool matches here on Friday.

With all pool matches concluded, Italian debutants Imoco Volley Conegliano and Igor Gorgonzola Novara claimed the top spots in their respective pools, with Turkey's Eczacibasi Vitra Istanbul and Vakifbank Istanbul occupying the runners-up spots to complete the final four.

For the eight-team two-pool annual tournament, only the top two teams in each pool advance to the last four, with others competing for 5th to 8th places.

China's Guangdong Evergrande and Tianjin Bohan Bank placed third in their respective pools, with Brazilian sides Itambe Minas and Dentil Praia propping up both pools.

In the final match in Pool B, Vakifbank beat Tianjin 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-19) in the crunch tie, with China's Zhu Ting absent for Tianjin after sustaining a wrist injury on Thursday.

Isabelle Haak scored a match-high 24 points, with Ebrar Karakurt adding 15 for Vakifbank, while Li Yingying led Tianjin with nine points.

In Friday evening's other match, Guangdong lost to Eczacibasi 3-0 (25-21, 25-9, 25-15) in Pool A. The Turkish squad led 44-25 in attacks, 12-7 in blocks, 5-2 in serves, 43-38 in digs and 14-11 in opponents' errors.

Tijana Boskovic scored a match-high 24 points, with Natalia Pereira adding 14 points for Eczacibasi. Zheng Yixing led Guangdong with nine points, and both Dobriana Rabadzhieva and Du Qingqing contributed eight points each.

Earlier in the afternoon, Italy's Conegliano defeated Minas 3-2 (25-17, 25-19, 20-25, 22-25, 28-26) in Pool B, while Novara dominated Praia 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-19) in Pool A.

Conegliano, who had secured their semifinal berth prior to the match, rested opposite spiker Ogechi Egonu and wing spiker Miryam Fatime Sylla, with fellow wing spiker Kimberly Hill only playing the first two sets, scoring 11 points.

Opposite spiker Nkemdilim Ruth Terry Enweonwu scored a match-high 23 points for Conegliano, with middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu adding 20 points.

For Minas, who failed to record any points in their previous two matches, wing spiker Rosiandy Acosta Alvarado scored a team-high 21 points, with opposite spiker Bruna Honorio Marques adding 19.

In Pool A, both opposite spiker Jovana Brakocevic and wing spiker Elitsa Vasileva scored 17 points apiece for Novara, with Megan Courtney adding nine points, while Fernanda Rodrigues made a team-high 13 points for Praia, and Nicole Fawcett and Ana Carolina Da Silva added seven points apiece.

The semifinals and classification matches are scheduled for Saturday, with the final taking place on Sunday.

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