Turkey vs. Bulgaria: 2011 CEV European Volleyball League - Women Preview
The 2011 CEV Volleyball European League is covering the most influential final phase and the semi-finals are set to take place today, Friday, July 15. The premier European competition was started off with twelve teams from Europe and is now headed towards
its conclusion with the top four teams. There have been some wonderful matches during the preliminary round and exciting volleyball matches drew the attention of fans all around the world.The Preliminary Round of the 2011 CEV European Volleyball League was
staged in different countries but the Final Round will be hosted by Istanbul, Turkey. Following four team have qualified for the semi-finals and medal matches:
· Turkey · Bulgaria · Serbia · Czech Republic
The National Women’s Volleyball Team of Turkey took full advantage of the home support and successfully cleared the preliminary stage of the competition. They kicked off the campaign in Pool C along with teams from Romania, Belarus, and Croatia. Turks took
the right impulse and totally dominated the in the pool fight. They appeared in 12 matches and dropped only two games. Nonetheless, they finished in the top slot with maximum points. With such good win/loss ratio, they reserved a berth in the Final Round of
the tournament.
Turkish team is joined by brilliant Bulgarian team in the semi-finals. Bulgaria entered the competition with the label of underdog team but the girls around Head Coach Jiri Siller shook off the bad impression and clawed their way to the next round. Their
outstanding performance in the preliminary round of the tournament clearly points toward a very tough competition in the semi-final against home team this afternoon.
The Turkish Head Coach Motta has decided to go with following set of players in the semi-final match:
KARAKOYUN, Asuman ( TUR) Setter SONSIRMA, Gözde ( TUR) Wing-spiker GÜRESEN, Gizem ( TUR) Libero 1 AVCI, Ergül ( TUR) Middle-blocker USLUPEHLIVAN, Polen ( TUR) Wing-spiker TOKSOY, Bahar ( TUR) Middle-blocker ÖNAL, Güldeniz ( TUR) Wing-spiker ÖZSOY, Neriman ( TUR) Wing-spiker ERDEM, Eda ( TUR) Middle-blocker ILYASOGLU, Selime ( TUR) Wing-spiker DARNEL, Neslihan (C) ( TUR) Opposite CEMBERCI KIRDAR , Özge ( TUR) Setter
On the other hand, the Bulgaria team roster will feature following players:
NENOVA, Diana (Valentinova) ( BUL) Setter RABADZHIEVA, Dobriana ( BUL) Wing-spiker KOEVA, Gabriela ( BUL) Middle-blocker YANEVA, Eva (C) ( BUL) Wing-spiker KAMENOVA, Kremena ( BUL) Wing-spiker RUSEVA, Hristina ( BUL) Middle-blocker KARAKASHEVA, Mariya ( BUL) Wing-spiker FILIPOVA, Mariya ( BUL) Libero 1 VASILEVA, Elitsa Vasileva ( BUL) Wing-spiker FILIPOVA, Strashimira ( BUL) Middle-blocker NIKOLOVA, Emiliya ( BUL) Opposite KITIPOVA, Lora ( BUL) Setter
The Head Coach of Turkish team, Brazilian Marco Aurelio Motta is quite optimistic that his side will make it to the top of podium. He shared his thoughts about the crucial stage of the tournament in following manner: “As hosts of this final four we will
try to play at our best. We have an experienced group of players and after 8 weeks since the start of the season we are in a good position to achieve a great result”.
The “Burhan Felek” Volleyball Hall in Istanbul is all set to host the thrilling encounter at 19-30 (local time).
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