'Top scorer Son Seo-yeon shines' U-17 women's volleyball team finishes sixth at World Championship... loses to Italy 1-3

*This content was translated by AI.

The South Korean U-17 (under-17) women's Bae Gu (CEO) team finished sixth at the 2026 International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) World Championship.

Led by head coach Lee Seung-yeo, the South Korean national team lost to Italy 1-3 (20-25, 26-24, 20-25, 14-25) in the fifth-place match held on the 17th (Korean time) at the National Stadium Park Court in Santiago, Chile.

After losing the first set, South Korea fought back to win the second set in a tight tiebreak (26-24), but ultimately lost both the third and fourth sets consecutively to close out the match.

Captain Son Seo-yeon (from Seonmyeong Girls' High School) struggled hard, recording a team-high 20 points including three blocks. Jang Su-in (Gyeongnam Girls' High School) added 12 points, and Lee Da-yeon (Jungang Girls' High School) contributed eight points.

Having qualified for this tournament by winning the 2025 Asian Championship, South Korea went undefeated in all five group stage matches before defeating the Philippines in the round of 16. After losing to Turkey in the quarterfinals and missing out on a spot in the semifinals, South Korea defeated Thailand in the ranking match but narrowly lost again to Italy, their group stage opponent, in the fifth-place match.

Son Seo-yeon scored a total of 179 points throughout this tournament and currently shares second place with Sofia Emilia Valdo (Argentina) in the scoring standings.

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*This content was translated by AI.