USA, Bulgaria to Clash in U19 Worlds Final

Defending champions USA halted Poland`s undefeated streak while Bulgaria narrowly defeated Türkiye to reach the final.

Defending champions USA and Bulgaria have qualified for the final of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U19 World Championship in Osijek, Croatia, scheduled for Sunday. Both teams secured victories in their respective semifinals at the Gradski Vrt Hall on Saturday. The reigning champions, USA, defeated Poland in straight sets, while Bulgaria secured a hard-fought 3-2 win against Türkiye. Matches across all levels of the bracket will continue to determine the final rankings from 1st to 24th place.

Final Standings Playoffs:

• Final: USA v Bulgaria
• 3^rd place match: Türkiye v Poland
• 5^th place match: China v Italy
• 7^th place match: Brazil v Japan
• 9^th place match: Croatia v Argentina
• 11^th place match: Mexico v Chinese Taipei
• 13^th place match: Belgium v Thailand
• 15^th place match: Serbia v Germany
• 17^th place: Spain
• 18^th place: Canada
• 19^th place: Puerto Rico
• 20^th place: Chile
• 21^st place: Peru
• 22^nd place: Egypt
• 23^rd place: Dominican Republic
• 24^th place: Tunisia

Semifinals

Defending champions USA ended Poland`s perfect record at the World Championship with a dominant straight-sets victory (25-14, 25-18, 25-19) to book their place in the final. Poland had reached the semifinals undefeated in eight matches, including a 3-2 win over USA in the preliminary phase. However, the Americans showcased superior performance in attack (37 to 26 spike kills), blocking (12 to 3 stuff blocks), and serving (8 to 3 aces) on Saturday, keeping their hopes alive for a second consecutive title. Outside hitter Suliane Davis was exceptional, scoring a match-high 18 points (13 kills, 3 blocks, 2 aces) for USA. Opposite Henley Anderson also contributed double-digit points with 11 (6 kills, 3 blocks, 2 aces), while Natasza Ornoch was Poland`s best scorer with 8 points (6 kills, 0 blocks, 2 aces).

USA captain Genevieve Harris commented, “It’s a great win for us. Poland is a fantastic team, and to be able to compete with them at this level and come out as winners is such a great honour. We have been improving with every game, especially considering we`ve only been together as a team for about three weeks. Reaching the final with such a performance gives us a lot of confidence. It would mean the world to us to defend our title because having a World Championship medal is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We want to pour our hearts into that game and fight for our country and the sport that we love.”

Bulgaria once again prevailed over Türkiye in a tie-breaker to qualify for the World Championship final, where they will face defending champions USA. This was the second encounter between the two European rivals. Bulgaria`s effectiveness in attack (63 to 51 spike kills) and serving (8 to 6 aces) propelled them to a narrow 3-2 victory (25-23, 18-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-09). Opposite Alexandra Kitipova delivered 4 aces and added 11 spike kills and 2 blocks for a total of 17 points. However, her teammate, Kalina Veneva, topped the scoring charts with 25 points (22 kills, 2 blocks, 1 ace). For Türkiye, outside hitter Ceylin Kuyan was impressive with 20 points (15 kills, 1 block, 4 aces), while 15-year-old opposite Aylin Uysalcan added 17 points (15 kills, 2 blocks, 0 aces).

Bulgaria coach Atanas Petrov said, “It was a really tough game, and I’m happy that the girls responded well once again when faced with difficult situations. I knew we had to be at our best today because this summer we have played against Türkiye three times and won. However, they have been improving with every game, and today they gave us another tough game. It was a good team effort, and a pleasure to beat them four times in a row. We have nothing to lose in the final. USA are the world champions, so they are definitely the favourites. But we are also the European champions, so they should expect a big fight.”

5 – 8 Semifinals

China rebounded from their 3-1 quarterfinal loss to Türkiye by defeating Brazil with the same scoreline (23-25, 27-25, 27-25, 28-26) in the 5th place playoff semifinals at the Gradski Vrt Hall in Osijek. Outside hitter Yexuan Cao inspired China’s comeback with 20 points (15 kills, 5 blocks, 0 aces), while opposite Luize Da Silva Tavares was the leading scorer for the South American champions with a game-high 22 points (19 kills, 3 blocks, 0 aces).

Italy secured a second victory over Japan in the tournament to qualify for Sunday’s 5th place playoff final against China. In their second encounter in this competition, the Europeans had to battle hard to overcome Japan in five sets (16-25, 25-20, 26-28, 25-22, 15-07). Outside hitter Ludovica Tosini scored 16 points (15 kills, 1 block, 0 aces) for Italy, while Japan’s opposite Rion Chuganji posted a remarkable 29 points (26 kills, 2 blocks, 1 ace), the highest by any player in the tournament so far. Following this loss, Japan will compete for 7th place against Brazil on Sunday.