Dominicans to play for the bronze at U23

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia, September 16, 2017 - Turkey came back from two sets down at 1-3 to edge the Dominican Republic 4-3 (11-15, 16-14, 11-15, 13-15, 15-7, 16-14, 15-8) here on Saturday at Arena Stozice to make the final of the 2017 FIVB Women's U23 World Championship.

In Sunday's final they will face the Slovenia who defeated Bulgaria 4-1 (11-15, 15-10, 15-12, 18-16, 15-4) in the other semifinal. The Dominicans will play Bulgaria for the bronze medal.

The loss of Madeline Guillen who had to be carried off to hospital in a stretcher after a left knee injury at 3-3 in the fifth set clearly disrupted the Dominican Republic. The 16-year-old outside hitter had been her side's best scorer to that moment with 12 points.After the substitution with Natalia Martinez Turkey made a 12-4 run to take the fifth and then held the Caribbean side at bay to force a seventh.

Hande Baladin with 22 points and Ebrar Karakurt with 21 led Turkey as their side dominated the scoring skills to compensate for their 24 unforced errors. Gaila Gonzalez was the Dominican Republic's best scorer with 16 points.

Dominican Republic coach, Wagner Pacheco: "The injury of our player [Madeline Guillen] changed the course of match a lot, but it was not the only reason we lost today. We have a young team. They played above their capabilities today. They fought hard and I don't have anything to say to them. I am happy with what we showed so far."