[Anchor]
The under-17 women's volleyball national team, which narrowly missed out on the semifinals, secured a commanding victory against Thailand in their classification match. The players are determined to wrap up their tournament on a high note by winning their final match against Italy to claim fifth place globally.
Reporter Bae Jeonghun has the details.
[Reporter]
With Jang Su-in, Eom Min-seo, and Lee Da-yeon succeeding in consecutive blocks to seize early control of the match, our national team easily claimed the first set, bolstered by the performance of ace Son Seo-yeon.
Flashed and overwhelmed by our national team's height, power, and solid teamwork, Thailand collapsed amid a flurry of unforced errors. Setter Lee Seo-in masterfully orchestrated a diverse offense featuring quick attacks and delayed spikes, completely dismantling the Thai defense.
Dominating Thailand in every aspect—including four service aces—our national team sealed a 3-0 sweep, with 184cm Choi Min-ju, the tallest player on the team, securing the final point with a block.
[Lee Seung-yeo / Head Coach, U-17 Women's Volleyball National Team : I was quite worried that the players would be exhausted and low on morale, but fortunately, they seemed to find their rhythm today, which is great.]
Washing away the disappointment of their quarterfinal loss to Türkiye with a satisfying victory, our national team will face powerhouse Italy tomorrow (August 17) in the 5th-6th place playoff, having previously defeated them 3-1 in the preliminary round.
They are determined to secure a victory to finish their first-ever appearance in this tournament with a respectable world ranking of fifth.
[Son Seo-yeon / Captain, U-17 Women's Volleyball National Team : Since it is a team we already beat in the preliminaries, and tomorrow is our final game, we will give it everything we've got and definitely beat Italy.]
(Video Editing: Ha Sung-won)
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