Home favourites Türkiye cruise to first pool phase victory to delight 9,112-strong crowd
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With a crowd of 9,112 fans in attendance, the CEV Trendyol EuroVolley 2026 Women got underway on Friday evening in Istanbul with home favourites and reigning European champions Türkiye securing a comprehensive 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-16) victory over outsiders Latvia.
In their first EuroVolley match since the 1997 edition, Team Latvia put up a very good fight though, as Türkiye’s captain and legend Eda Erdem openly acknowledged after the game, much to the delight of a small group of Latvian fans cheering from the stands of the iconic Sinan Erdem Sports Hall in Istanbul. However, the technical quality and physical prowess of the home side was obvious for everyone to see – and that was evident especially in the early stages of the second set, where Türkiye scored as many as seven unanswered points. Still, with their fast game, Latvia delivered a more than decent performance – even though that was not enough to stop Melissa Vargas – top scorer in the end with 19 points – and other global superstars of the game such as Hande Baladin and Zehra Günes.
Eda Erdem“I have to congratulate my teammates on this victory, but also Latvia, since they played a lovely game. There were many long rallies, which the crowd obviously enjoyed, and we won most of them – which means that my teammates fought for every ball and our defence was good.”
Team captain of Türkiye
“This is only the first day of a long journey – but it is such a pleasure to play for our fans and we want to turn their energy and support into something positive, even though we may perceive a certain pressure at times. Our goal is to make it to the final and qualify for the Los Angeles Olympic Games,” she added. Together with Serbia’s Maja Ognjenovic, Erdem has become the player with the most appearances in EuroVolley history – 10!
Marta Kamelija Levinska top scored for Latvia with 13 points. As their captain Paula Nikola Neciporuka said, “This is the moment we have been working so hard for and for many years – so we are obviously delighted that we can enjoy this experience and represent Latvia on the European stage with much pride.”
This was the first time Türkiye and Latvia played each other at EuroVolley and the very first matchup featuring these two national teams since a European Championship qualifier contested in 1997, when Latvia had prevailed 3-2. However, much has changed since then – with Türkiye having turned into a real Volleyball powerhouse with European and World Championship medals to their name. The matchup did also pit two Italian coaches against each other – Daniele Santarelli for Türkiye and Daniele Capriotti for Latvia.
Daniele Capriotti“It was a very emotional moment and I think my players enjoyed it and did perform well. I think they understood that we need to continue to work hard and to improve in order to enjoy this sort of experience on a more regular basis. They will take today’s goosebumps as a boost of motivation to work even harder than they have done this far.”
Head coach of Latvia
Actually, all other teams contesting the Pool A matches in Istanbul are placed under the mentorship of Italian coaches as well – Poland with Stefano Lavarini, Germany with Giulio Bregoli, Hungary with Alessandro Chiappini and Slovenia with Alessandro Orefice. They all carry the hopes of a foreign country to do well in a championship that is already bound to go down in Volleyball history.