The semi-finals of the 2025 Women's Volleyball World Championship (World Volleyball) will be held on Saturday, September 6th, with Japan, ranked 5th in the world, facing Turkey, ranked 4th in the world.
The first set was a close one, but Japan took the lead 14-11 with a combination of attacks from Mayu Ishikawa and Yoshino Sato. From there, Japan continued to break the lead with attacks from serve-and-defense counterattacks and a service ace from relief server Nichika Yamada, widening the gap to 21-13. A Turkish serve error at the end gave Japan the lead 25-16.
In the second set, Japan struggled with Turkey's serve and blocks from the beginning, leading to a 5-10 lead. After that, Japan narrowed the gap with attacks from Wada and other players, but Turkey's point scorer Vargas continued to score and maintain the lead. In the final stages, Turkey continued to break the lead with serve and blocks, and finally Vargas scored from the right to take the set 17-25.
The third set was a close one early on, but Turkey took consecutive breaks off Vargas' serve and took advantage of Japan's mistakes to take a 10-15 lead. From there, Erdem's blocks and moving attacks led to consecutive breaks, widening the gap to 11-21. Japan tried to break through with substitutions, but it didn't work, giving Turkey a set point. Ishikawa then hit a service ace, but a quick hit from Günes put Turkey in a position to advance to the finals 18-25.
With no room for error, Japan started the fourth set by switching Ishikawa and Sato's positions, just as they did from the fourth set onwards in the quarterfinals. Japan, led by Wada, Ishikawa, and Miyabe Airi, while Turkey, led by Vargas and Karakurt, scored points, and the match was evenly matched until the middle of the match, at 14-14. From there, Japan took a 20-17 lead with a service ace from Wada, and then, with Turkey making further mistakes, they reached set point at 24-21. However, Turkey's blocks meant they couldn't convert the last point, giving Turkey a 24-25 lead and a match point. Finally, Sato's attack went out, and Turkey took the set 25-27. As a result, Japan lost to Türkiye 1-3.
Japan - Türkiye
1-3 (25-16, 17-25, 18-25, 25-27)
Japan
Starting lineup: OH Ishikawa (19), MB Miyabe (5), OH Wada (22), OH Sato (9), MB Shimamura (8), S Seki (1), L Kojima
Substitutes: MB Araki (0), MB Yamada (1), OH Iwasawa (0), OH Kitamado (0), OH Akimoto (1)
Türkiye
Starting lineup: OH Karakurt (13), MB Güneş (12), OP Vargas (28), OH Aydın (4), MB Erdem (13), S Ozbay (2), L Orge
Substitutes: OH Baladun (2), S Sahin (0), OH Elkek (0)
Match stats▼
https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/women-world-championship/schedule/22451/
Japan, having lost, will advance to the third place match.
The third place match will be against Brazil on Sunday, September 7th at 5:30 PM.
How to watch:
▶ Start your free trial with U-NEXT now
Related links
Photo: Volleyball World
English 
Japanese