Staff 
The organization of Turkish Cup drew mixed comments from the volleyball lovers in Turkey this year. The drawing of lots had no seeding system so Fenerbahce Acibadem and Vakifbank Gunes Sigorta Turk Telekom met as early as the 2nd round. When Vakif successfully put away their rivals, the path of Eczacibasi and VakifGunes remained wide open. According to the new system put in place this year, the last four teams would play a Final Four event two days in a row. Ironically enough, VakifGunes and Eczacibasi matched up for the semifinals as Iller Bankasi and Nilufer Belediyesi would be the other pair to fight for the final. So it was pretty obvious that the winner of the former match would claim the Cup. On the other hand, as prestigious as the Turkish Cup is, it does not have the same practical meaning in Italy. While the winner of Coppa Italia clinches the Champions League ticket for next season, in Turkey the winner gets to qualify for CEV Cup. Only if the winner of the Cup aces the league as well, they get to qualify for the Champions League.
The semis between the two of the most elite clubs of Turkish volleyball history promised a lot for the audience as well as the teams. VakifGunes previously defeated Eczacibasi for four times this year so this game was a do-or-die one for the girls in orange-white jerseys. If Eczacibasi won, they would rediscover their confidence and progress to the playoffs thinking that they could potentially defeat them again in the semis of the playoffs. Eczacibasi started the match with their new starting six. Yevgeniya Dushkyevich was in while Bown was in the stands once again and Esra Gumus was the libero. With Dushkyevich’s presence on the court together with the youngster Busra Cansu, Francia is lifted off the burden of reception. However, still there is one position where Eczacibasi receives only with Gumus and Del Core as neither Francia nor Darnel receives. VakifGunes dismantled that shaky reception lineup in the first set. Elif Agca was unable to make proper sets following not-so-good passes as Glinka and Nikolic killed all the balls Gozde and Gizem dug in the first set. The second set witnessed a totally different story as Eczacibasi finally managed to put in tricky serves between the receivers of VakifGunes. The biggest success of Eczacibasi came when they placed their serves either two steps ahead of Nikolic or a little higher and behind her where she had to make a step or two behind to pass but of course all those passes were enough for Eczacibasi blockers to settle down for blocking. Above all, Francia and Darnel were perfect in killing all the balls the team dug. The biggest difference Eczacibasi had in that semifinal was that they played like a team and fought for each ball to dig and to kill on the dig.
On the other side of the net, the girls of VakifGunes were surprised at their shaky performance following the second set. Yet, surprise was not the only emotion they showed on that day. Their ambitious attitudes were too ugly to be described as determined. As they started to falter starting in the second set, they complained for each decision the referees made with exaggerated facial expressions and body gestures. Most decisions were involved with net touches or faulty sets. The more Gozde Kirdar and Co. kept complaining and shouting around the more they made unforced errors. Moreover, slow motion replays subsequent after each decision proved that the referees were right. When a captain of the team behaves as unsportsmanlike as she did in that game and when a coach does not intervene in his team’s attitude on the court, you cannot expect that team to win. That was the case on last Saturday afternoon. Eczacibasi’s overpowering play shook the system of VakifGunes that we have been praising month after month. That shake should not have led the team to a non-fair play temper but it did. The ugliest part was when VakifGunes captain Gozde Kirdar tweeted right after the game: “If Eczacibasi played with 6 players rather than 8 (referring to the umpires), we would have defeated themâ€. She deleted the tweet after several minutes. The hatred campaign Fenerbahce fans started against her and her twin sister was as ugly as her behaviors throughout this match.
The volleyball community in Turkey points out that the offensive stance of Vakif Gunes players on the court overshadowed Eczacibasi’s long-time awaited win. With all the credit to Eczacibasi, Bown’s absence on the court for Dushkyevich to receive instead of Francia still remains as a questionable strategy. I believe that Lorenzo Micelli should contemplate a bit more if Dushkeyvich’s reception instead of Francia makes as so much of a difference to dispense of Bown’s attacking power. The finals and 3rd place games resulted as expected as Eczacibasi joyfully lifted the trophy. Darnel’s post-match statement that this was the first trophy she claimed after her return from Tenerife and Francia’s joyful and baby-like looks at captain Gumus to ask her permission for her to lift the trophy as if this was her final year at Eczacibasi and/or competitive volleyball were the two emotional happenings that headlined in the award ceremony.
– Murat Colakoglu –
