VakifBank back on top after Fenerbahçe derby

One of the biggest matches in European volleyball took place this weekend: Two of the best women’s volleyball clubs, Fenerbahce Opet Istanbul and VakifBank Istanbul, came face to face in the sixteenth round of the Sultanlar League.

The encounter, as expected, was quite tough, and there was a massive battle, especially in the first three sets; however, the last SuperFinalist VakifBank overcame the currently undefeated team of Pool D of the CEV Champions League Volley in the fourth and won the clash with a score of 3-1 (27-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-10).

Thanks to this victory, VakifBank took the lead in the league while Fenerbahce dropped down to second.

With clear victories of 3-0, the CEV Cup representative Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul and the other CEV Champions League Volley participant THY Istanbul continued to follow these two in their third and fourth places respectively.

Swedish star Isabelle Haak became the top scorer of the match with 28 points, while Turkish middle blocker Zehra Güneş contributed nine kill blocks. Including three aces, young Russian talent of the Fenerbahçe, Arina Fedorovtseva tallied 18 points.

Another big match would've been played this weekend in Italy between the other group leaders of the CEV Champions League Volley, however due to coronavirus cases in the A. Carraro Imoco Volley Conegliano team, the match between the defending champion and Igor Gorgonzola Novara was postponed to a later date.

The current leader of Group A without a single loss, Poland’s Developres Rzeszow continued their way pretty well in the Tauron Liga. Having no difficulties while beating Volley Wroclaw in three sets, Rzeszow remained at the top of the standings. On the other hand, the chase is continued from the other CEV Champions League squad, Grupa Azoty Chemik Police, who beat Il Capital Legionovia Legionowo this weekend.

Dinamo Ak-Bars Kazan was the only CEV Champions League team who took to the court this weekend in Russia, and by beating their opponent Odintsovo by 3-0, they maintained their first place in the standings.

In short, even though some of the anticipated matches were postponed for various reasons, the excitement in European volleyball continued at its full speed in the big derby of Turkey and other leagues as well.