Top scorer Sol Piccolo celebrates as Argentina edge Egypt at the 2017 FIVB Women's U23 World Championship in Ljubljana.
Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 14, 2017 - Argentina just barely outlasted Egypt 4-3 (15-10, 15-6, 16-14, 14-16, 13-15, 11-15, 15-11) here on Thursday at Arena Stozice as pool play resumed at the 2017 FIVB Women's U23 World Championship following a rest day. The result complicates the standings of Pool A, but sees the South Americans stay alive in the race for a ticket to the next round and a chance to fight for positions 5-8.
But with the point they picked up today, Egypt now have the edge over Thailand and Argentina in the standings.
With Sol Piccolo producing the second-best scoring performance of the tournament on 24 points, Argentina dominated play on the net, but provided Egypt with more than two sets'-worth of points from unforced errors.
All matches in Ljubljana are played under a
new scoring system currently being tested: a best-of-seven, 15-point set format.
Egypt got off to a good early start in the first set, but Argentina made a 7-1 run to turn the game around. The African side missed their opportunity to cause damage to Argentina in the third, when they came back from 11-13 down to reach set point at 13-14 before some great defending allowed Sol Piccolo to score off two kills from the left and finish the set.
And in the fourth Argentina missed their own chance at wrapping up the game in straight sets when they blew 8-5 and 12-8 leads and then failed to capitalise on a match point at 14-13 before Doaa Elghobashy served two straight aces to keep Egypt alive.
Egypt's Aya Elshamy spikes against the block of Argentina's Sol Piccolo and Mariana Moriondo in Ljubljana.With Egypt again coming from behind in the fifth to reach set point at 13-14, it was Aya Elsham who brought it home with a spike off the block.
But in the seventh it was Argetina who came from behind after trailing 5-8 when the sides switched courts and turning it around with a 6-1 run to go 11-9 ahead and never look back.
In addition to Piccolo's 24, Daniela Bulaich and Antonela Fortuna also scored in double digits with 16 and 15 respectively for Argentina. Aya Elshamy was again Egypt's best scorer, but her mere 23% killing efficiency (14/60) kept her tally at just 15 points.
Quick links - Volleyball:FIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship 2017
FIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship 2017 - ScheduleFIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship 2017 - Teams
FIVB.com - VolleyballFIVB.com
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