Fenerbahce Claimed The Turkish Title With A Strong Win, Imoco Tie The Series With A Five-Setter

This weekend, there were two huge volleyball actions in the most elite domestic tournaments in Europe. While Fenerbahce managed to maintain their Turkish title and once again stood out on the top of the podium, Imoco showed an outstanding performance against Scandicci to catch them.

Two Turkish powerhouses, Fenerbahce Opet Istanbul and Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul, took the court against each other for the fifth and the determining clash of the Turkish Sultanlar League playoff finals. Eczacibasi lastly took a straight-set victory over Fenerbahce to extend the series to this match, and therefore, all eyes were on both teams to see what they would bring to the court. In front of an enormous crowd of fans, the Fenerbahce side clearly found a 2-0 lead in sets. The third one was quite challenging for both sides, but Italian expert Stefano Lavarini’s squad finally took the last point and became this year’s champion in Türkiye (3-0: 25-18, 25-22, 27-25). Fenerbahce, therefore, kept their title in the country and completed the season with two domestic gold medals.

Turkish superstar of the winning side, Melissa Teresa Vargas, became the most productive player on the winning side with a total of 15 points, and she was honored with the MVP award. While the captain Eda Erdem Dundar stood out with seven kill blocks, Brazilian outside hitter Ana Cristina De Souza also scored in double digits (11 points). Serbian opposite Tijana Boskovic’s 22-point performance was not enough for Eczacibasi.

Another challenging clash was held in Italy: In the rematch of a five-setter resulted with a win of Scandicci, this year’s CEV Champions League Volley SuperFinalist A. Carraro Imoco Volley Conegliano faced Savino Del Bene Scandicci. The tension was quite high from the first ball to the last, and Scandicci succeeded in finding a 2-1 lead after three sets. With a superior game in fourth and fifth, the Imoco side then finally became victorious and tied the playoff final series to 1-1 (3-2: 23-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-23, 15-11).

The Italian libero Monica De Gennaro was selected as the Most Valuable Player thanks to her outstanding digs and excellent receptions. Swedish opposite Isabelle Haak tallied 27 points in Imoco, followed by American outside hitter Kathryn Plummer (17 points) and Italian middle blocker Mariana Lubian (11 points). Ekaterina Antropova shone with her performance with 34 points in Scandicci.

The Turkish Sultanlar League came to an end with Fenerbahce’s happy endings, and now we all start to wait for the third game in Italy. The next game will be scheduled for the 24th of April, and we will see which team will take advantage and get one step closer for the Italian title.