Vargas leads Türkiye past China into VNL final

MACAO

Türkiye advanced to the 2026 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League final with a straight-sets victory over hosts China on July 25, led by a match-high 23 points from Melissa Vargas.

The national side, widely known as the Sultans of the Net, won the semifinal 25-21, 25-15, 25-20 at the East Asian Games Dome in Macao.

China reduced Türkiye’s lead to two points late in the opening set, but the Turkish team held on before controlling the remaining two sets.

Türkiye outscored China 54-36 in attacks and held a 5-2 advantage in aces.

The two sides recorded seven and six blocks, respectively.

Vargas attacked at a 53 percent success rate, finishing with 21 attacking points, one ace and one block. İlkin Aydın contributed 15 points, while Hande Baladın added 11 and Zehra Güneş recorded four blocks.

The result sent Türkiye into its third VNL final. The team won silver in the tournament’s inaugural edition in 2018 before claiming its first title in 2023.

Türkiye will face Brazil in Sunday’s final after the South American side defeated Italy 3-2 in the other semifinal. The match will begin at 2:30 p.m. Türkiye time.

Vargas has repeatedly delivered high-scoring performances against China. She recorded 36 points in the teams’ preliminary-round meeting last month, 42 in the Paris 2024 Olympic quarterfinal, 31 in the 2024 VNL and 26 in Türkiye’s 2023 VNL final victory.

“We fought for every point,” Vargas said after Saturday’s semifinal. “I expect a very tense game and a point-for-point fight against Brazil.”