Stuttgart, July 17, 2015 – Turkey beat Germany 3-2 (20-25, 28-26, 31-29, 14-25, 18-16) in a thrilling FIVB World Grand Prix match on Friday.
The match began incredibly closely in set one, with the score barely ever stretching more than a point in either side’s favour. Anja Brandt and Wiebke Silge caught the eye for Germany, while Güldeniz Onal and Polen Uslupehlivan scored well for the Turks. But Turkey struggled to control middle blocker Wiebke Silge, and the home side clinched the set 25-20.
The second set was equally close, as Jennifer Geerties and Maren Brinker battled Onal and Uslupehlivan. Turkey got ahead and had four set points, but the Germans showed real spirit to battle back to 24-24. Yet the Turks bounced back to win 28-26. And the ding-dong battle continued in set three, with the sides virtually inseparable and – as Germany made more errors – Turkey finally clinching it 31-29. But Germany hit back, with Maren Brinker standing out as they built a nine-point lead, and closed the set out 25-14.
And Turkey closed out the game - but only just - as the too-close sides ran up to 16-16 in set five – and the Turks won it 18-16. Polen Uslupehlivan was the match’s top scorer with 26 points, while Jennifer Geerties got 20 for Germany. Read the live text commentary from this match
here.