Turkey claws its way to quarterfinals by defeating Spain 3-0: Volleyball
Turkey's Women national volleyball team demonstrated a stellar performance in the quarter-final qualification match on Tuesday, September 27. They held off Spain for a 3-0 victory and scored 25-19, 25-17, 25-21 in three consecutive sets.
Head Coach Marco Aurelio Motta’s game plan worked out perfectly and Turks clinched success. The Palalper sports arena in the Italian city of Monza hosted the match. In the next run, Turkey is set to take on Russia in the quarter-final match of 2011 CEV European
Volleyball Championship on Wednesday, September 28.
Turkey enjoyed great form and dominated the Spaniards throughout the match. Spain looked as if there was nothing they could do to overcome Turkey. Ladies around Head Coach Gido Vermuelen fought gamely but failed to deal with the power game and technical
presence of Turkey. Neslihan Darnel was named the top-scorer of the match as she contributed 18 points in Turkey’s score.
Set 1
The opening of the match did not see much of a difference in score of both teams. Turkey was only one-point ahead of Spain at the first technical timeout. As the play resumed after break, both sides exchanged long rallies and tried to down the opposite side.
However, the even play continued and game saw a tie of 16-all. Afterwards, Turkish coach re-grouped his team and gave them a new plan. The use of good attack tactics enabled Turkey to take lead and further widen the gap of points. Spanish ladies offered strong
resistance but could not stop Turkey from claiming first set, 25-19.
Set 2
The second set also had a sort of symmetry with previous set. The opening phase of second set was balanced but gradually Turkey came into power. They started the hard-hitting and extended their lead to 2-0 by winning second set, 25-17.
Set 3
The rhythm and tone was perfectly set for Turkey to make a clean sweep. They came thundering on Spain and finished third set at 25-21, while Spain dropped the chance to play at quarter-finals of 2011 CEV Women’s European Volleyball Championship.
Post-match comments
Marco Motta, the Turkish Coach, was delighted to find a spot among top-8 teams of the championship. Speaking of his team’s performance against Spain, he said: “We experienced very few problems in this match. Our defence suffered some times, but we compensated
it with strong attacks. A good strategy helped us controlling the game. Now we are among the best eight teams and we will prepare well to challenge Russia with the same energy we have shown against Italy.”
On the other hand, Spanish coach Gido Vermeulen regretted the loss of the important match. In his view, his side played defensively but failed to stop attacks from the opposite side. He said it was not the best performance of his team because they could
not put up a good fight like they exhibited against Russia and Bulgaria in previous matches.
“We started well and as consequence didn’t let Spain developing the great team work. Our strategy was to face them aggressively, as we did from the beginning of the match today.” Said Turkey captain Esra Gumus.
Patricia Aranda of Spain praised the wonderful performance of Turks. She regarded them as the best competitor in the whole competition.
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