USA come back from two sets down to triumph as U19 Girls’ World Champions

The USA mounted an amazing comeback from two sets down in the FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U19 World Championship 2023 final against Türkiye on Friday to emerge with a 3-2 (20-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-16, 15-10) victory and celebrate the country's second title (the first was in 2019), third consecutive podium and fifth overall medal in the history of the competition.

Türkiye added a second silver to its collection of three medals, including the 2011 gold, while Italy finished in third place to pick up bronze for its fifth back-to-back and ninth overall podium.

The USA’s Abigail Vander Wal and Türkiye’s Eylul Durgun shared the top-scorer honours of the final match, each contributing 19 points to the exciting battle on the court. American middle Favor Anyanwu impressed with five kill blocks towards an 18-point tally.

2023 Girls U19 world champions USA

“We are fighters,” USA's outside hitter Teraya Sigler said. “Our coach was always repeating to us that we needed to be ourselves, that there was nobody better, so we gained confidence. We were losing 0-2 and we were playing an amazing team like Türkiye, but we came back. My teammates deserve the world. We have great spirit, and I think volleyball is an emotional sport, a fire, and we are showing it on the court - celebrating, dancing, enjoying.”

The Americans completed their World Championship campaign undefeated in nine matches, but it was not an easy run for as they were pushed to five sets on four occasions, including the gold medal game.

The bronze medal match also offered a five-set thriller. Italy came back from a set down twice before celebrating a narrow 3-2 (19-25, 25-14, 22-25, 25-23, 16-14) victory at the end of an overtime tie-breaker. Lisa Esposito led the winners with 20 points, while two Japanese players, Miku Akimoto and Riri Kasai, shared the top-scorer honours with 22 points apiece. The latter fired as many as six aces during the game.

16-year-old outside hitter Abigail Vander Wal was recognized as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. She was also named on the U19 World Championship’s Dream Team along with setter Ilaria Batte (Italy), opposite Beren Yesilirmak (Türkiye), outside hitter Teraya Sigler (USA), middle blockers Aurora Papac (Croatia) and Begum Kaczmaz (Türkiye), and libero Rin Nishikawa (Japan).

The 2023 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U19 World Championship’s MVP and Dream Team

Japan’s Miku Akimoto topped the best scorers’ chart with 192 points during the tournament. She also scored the most points in attack. Croatia’s Aurora Papac was the best blocker. Italy’s Merit Chinenyenwa Adigwe was the best server. Her teammate Ilaria Batte led the statistical chart for best setters. The best diggers’ ranking was topped by Japan’s Rin Nishikawa, while the best receivers' ranking saw China’s Sun Wanyun at the top.

The FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U19 World Championship 2023 ran from 1 to 11 August in Osijek, Croatia and Szeged, Hungary with the participation of 24 teams (including Nigeria who withdrew just before the start of the tournament). Co-hosts Croatia finished in fifth place, followed by Thailand, Brazil, Bulgaria, Argentina, China, Korea, Poland, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Hungary, Egypt, Serbia, Mexico, Canada, Peru, Germany, Cameroon, Chile and Nigeria.

Results, standings, statistics