NANJING, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkey defeated Serbia in five sets (20-25, 25-21, 25-18, 19-25, 16-14) in the Volleyball Nations League finals on Thursday, keeping their finals hopes alive and kicking.

After losing to USA on Wednesday, Turkey needed to beat Serbia to continue their participation in the tournament.

Middle blocker Hande Baladin took the role of the pillar of the team, as she finished with 20 points, including 16 kills from 40 attempts.

Wing spiker Ebrar Karakurt stepped up with 13 points. Nine blocks shared between Zehra Gunes and Eda Erdem Dundar also contributed to the victory. Serbia rallied hard behind star opposite Tijana Boskovic's match-leading 29 points, but they could not sustain their attack long enough.

"They deserve to win this game, and we definitely didn't play [on a] high level. I don't know if it is because it's our first game or the players are a bit tired," said Serbia's head coach Terzic Zoran.

Both the coach and the captain of Serbia said that they hope to do better in the next match. Serbia must beat world champions USA on Friday if they want to clinch a spot in the semifinal.