Luxembourg, April 5, 2018. VakifBank ISTANBUL and Galatasaray SK ISTANBUL join the Final Four family in this year’s edition of the CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women. Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO secured their spot in the tournament yesterday by taking two sets in their matchup vs. Dinamo KAZAN. The fourth team to take part in such huge Volleyball show will be the organiser of the Finals – the Romanian sensation of CSM Volei Alba BLAJ. The teams will lock horns to decide who the new champion will be in Bucharest in the first weekend of the upcoming month of May. In the last two matches from the Playoffs 6, played on Thursday night, VakifBank ISTANBUL and Galatasaray SK ISTANBUL showed that they deserve the spot in the final with great Volleyball skills. While VakifBank ISTANBUL did not have any big problems with qualifying, claiming two wins by 3-0 vs. their opponents from Volero ZÜRICH , things were a bit more difficult for Galatasaray SK ISTANBUL. They had to claim a 3-0 or 3-1 win in order to qualify directly or 3-2 to vie for a Golden Set. Despite losing the first set vs. Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA, the players around head coach Ataman Güneyligil managed to motivate themselves and eventually booked their ticket to #CLF4Bucharest.

VakifBank ISTANBUL (TUR) vs. Volero ZÜRICH (SUI) 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-17)

•    VakifBank ISTANBUL needed only seventy minutes in the re-match vs. Volero ZÜRICH in order to book their ticket to the Final Four of the 2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women.
•    The Turkish side took a 3-0 win over their opponents and this way repeated the result from the first leg of the Playoffs 6.
•    VakifBank ISTANBUL had to take two sets on Thursday night in Istanbul to secure their spot in the final phase of the competition.
•    The players of Giovanni Guidetti showed great determination and motivation and congratulated themselves with a win. This way the titleholders continue their journey in the #CLVolleyW without a single loss this season.
•    Zhu Ting from the home team put 21 points to her name, becoming Best Player of the match.
•    Best Blocker of the match was Milena Rasic (wit four points) - as VakifBank recorded as many as 14 blocks.
•    Biggest point difference: 13 points (at the end of the first set, 25-12).
•    This result accounts for VakifBank’s sixth Final Four participation in a row.

Hatice Gizem Örge, player of VakifBank ISTANBUL : “We are very happy. We started the game with a lot of motivation and I think we managed to keep being motivated throughout the whole match, which, of course, had a positive impact on our performance. This will be my fifth participation in the Final Four phase and I am incredibly excited about that.”

Giovanni Guidetti, head coach of VakifBank ISTANBUL: “I feel great and I would like to thank my club that gives me the opportunity to feel that kind of happiness again and again. We have amazing players and amazing staff. Taking part in six Final Four tournaments in a row means that I’m a lucky coach because I have been coaching a very strong team.”

Avital Selinger, head coach of Volero ZÜRICH: “VakifBank ISTANBUL gave to our young team a lesson about how to be very well organised. They showed us what the right combination of power, skills and good organisation means and I think that these components made the difference.”

Alexandra Lazic, player of Volero ZÜRICH: “It was a tough game today. They were on fire to go to  the Final Four and everybody saw their determination. They are well prepared and playing in a high-level national championship trains them to play always as good as they can. It took us some time to get into the match and when we finally reacted, it was all over.”

Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA (ITA) vs. Galatasaray SK ISTANBUL (TUR) 1-3 (26-24, 20-25, 17-25, 19-25)

•    Neslihan Demir Güler was the best player of the match with an amazing tally of 38 points and an outstanding performance with 52% success rate in attack.
•    Galatasaray SK ISTANBUL qualifies to the CEV Champions League Final Four tournament for the very first time in their history - but they hosted the event in 2013 when they finished the competition in fourth place.
•    After losing the first set 24-26, Galatasaray SK ISTANBUL made an amazing comeback and won 3-1. Despite their 2-3 home loss two weeks ago, today’s result was enough for them to proceed to the Final Four.
•    Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA lost a home game for the second time in the whole season so far. The loss against Galatasaray SK ISTANBUL puts an to a series of 11 victories in a row.
•    Sinead Jack was the best blocker of the game recording six blocks to her name.

Neslihan Demir Güler, player of Galatasaray SK ISTANBUL: “We are very proud, because we achieved a historic and outstanding result. We will represent Turkey in the CEV Champions League Final Four together with VakifBank ISTANBUL and now we are all looking forward to playing in this competition.”

Francesca Piccinini, player of Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA: “Congratulations to Galatasaray for their performance: they were playing very well with their service and created a lot of troubles to our team. They showed themselves being more powerful and with a positive spirit. They deserve to secure their spot in the Final Four.  Now we look forward to our upcoming Italian league games.”