Eczacibasi Istanbul lifts up the #CEVCupW trophy, again after four years
Recap
In the match for the #CEVCupW title, Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul was crowned champion! The last time that they held up this trophy was back in 2018 and now, four years later, it is again in their hands. The Tigers were in a better position when going into this match than Allianz MTV Stuttgart. Eczacibasi already won 3:1 in the home match and needed to win two sets in this match which they easily managed (18-25, 21-25, 25-18, 24-26).
Excitement, happiness, and pride. That is what players from Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul felt once they've realized that they are this year's #CEVCupW champions. It all happened very quickly as they won the first two sets and they all started celebrating. But, let's start from the beginning.
The first set started in favor of Stuttgart who had a 3-0 lead over Eczacibasi. Turkish team got in their first lead in the middle of the set (13-14) but Stuttgart then stopped. Their coach, Tore Aleksandersen, called a time-out and told them that they look as if they are paralyzed on the field. "Move your feet", were his words. But, it didn't help. He called for another time-out: "We're sleeping, all the time!" By that time Eczacibasi got in a very nice lead (14-19) and them winning this set was inevitable.
The following set started off similar to the first one. Stuttgart had a small lead but, again, in the middle of the set Eczacibasi got back. Pretty soon the Tigers stopped (14-19) and it seemed like they've lost energy to win this set. But, they came back and won it by 21-25 which, at that moment, meant that they are #CEVCupW champions! The whole team started running into the field and started with the early celebration but the game wasn't over just yet.
It may seem like Stuttgart would lose their will for the third set but they were in the absolute lead up until the middle of the match (13-8). Eczacibasi got back up again and Tore Aleksandersen was forced to call another time-out. "It's not over", was his message. And it wasn't. Stuttgart got back up completely and managed to win the third set (25-18).
The last set was a cat-and-mouse game between teams as Stuttgart had nothing to lose anymore and Eczacibasi wanted to score this match with a win. Which they did (24:26) and once it was over everybody ran into the field one more time.
MVP of the match was Maja Ognjenović with four winning spikes but it is worth saying that throughout this whole tournament Tijana Bošković scored 170 points and she is the top scorer for Eczacibasi.
Outside hitter"It was a really tough match. We know Stuttgart from the past, so we had to bring everything to the game. Some points of the match were very critical. We are just happy to bring home the cup. Now we focus on the next steps of the season and hope to win some more."
McKenzie Adams
Outside hitter"I am just really proud of how we played. Eczacibasi is a great team. But the fact that we won two medals in one week says a lot. We would have liked to win tonight but I think we made a really good job. The crowd here was amazing. We all had each others backs from the first minute. I am very proud of everybody."
T’ara Ceasar