Reigning European champions Türkiye claimed the eighth and last spot in the quarterfinals of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship on Monday and continue their attempt to win their first title in the tournament, according to the FIVB’s official website.
Ranked fifth in the FIVB World Ranking, the Turkish had serious difficulties in the first and third sets against rookies Slovenia, who are ranked 20th in the world, but delivered when it mattered to overcome the tournament’s Round of 16 with a 3-0 (30-28, 25-13, 29-27) victory in Bangkok.
Undefeated in their first four matches in Thailand, the Europeans are now set to face the United States, who also prevailed in a continental battle in the Round of 16 on Monday, taking Canada down 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-21) in the first match of the day in Bangkok.
Turkish scoring machine Melissa Vargas came up big for her team in their most important match in the tournament so far, leading her side with a match-high 20 points (19 kills, one block). Captain Eda Erdem also had a strong performance at middle blocker, contributing 17 points, with 12 kills, two blocks and three aces, including the game-winner.
“It was very difficult,” middle blocker Zehra Güneş remarked. “They fought for each point and were very good on defense. I thought both teams fought a lot at the end of the third set, and I’m proud that we made it here. We now have another difficult match against the United States, and I hope that we can continue playing this way and achieve our goal, which is to return home with the gold medal.”
Outside hitter Fatoumatta Sillah led Slovenia in the last match of their first World Championship appearance, registering 15 points (12 kills, two aces, one block) against the Turkish. Opposite Evá Zatkovič was on fire in the final points and matched her teammate’s production with 14 kills and one block.
“Matches like this are what we practice for and what we play for,” outside hitter Lorena Lorber Fijok reflected. “We pushed them a lot in the first and third sets, and the feeling right now is not good, it’s bittersweet. But we grew a lot here and still have a lot of room for improvement. We showed not only what we can do now, but also how far we can go with our potential. Playing at this big stage was an amazing opportunity for us and a reward for all we’ve been doing in these last few years.”
Türkiye played a clean match against Slovenia, giving up only 16 points in errors to 20 of their opponents. The European champions were also better in kills (47 to 42), blocks (ten to seven) and aces (seven to three) to get to the quarterfinals for a second-straight time.
