Luxembourg, February 20, 2020.  THY Istanbul won the last of four first-leg quarterfinals in the women’s CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup 2020 this week. On Thursday evening, the Turkish squad, sponsored by the Turkish Airlines, used the fast track to land on top of Austria’s ASKO Linz-Steg, sponsored by Linz Airport.

THY quickly reached cruising altitude and took only 65 minutes to complete the flight en route to an emphatic 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-15) shutout, leaving their gate to the semifinals wide open. The Turkish team dominated through the most part of the match, doing better on all counts. Only in the first half of the third set ASKO managed to stay competitive and even reached a three-point lead, but after 10-10 THY took control of the scoreboard for good and landed safely with the win. Their Dutch outside spiker Anne Buijs scored the match high of 14 points. Her Czech teammate, opposite Aneta Kocmanova Havlickova, chipped in another 13. Nikolina Maros was ASKO’s best scorer with 12 points to her name.



At the sold-out Georg von Peuerbach Gymnasium, Austrian Volleyball Federation President Gernot Leitner and Ahmet Mezut Ersoy, CEO of the federation’s sponsor DenizBank AG, were among the spectators.

Roland Schwab, head coach of ASKO Linz-Steg: "THY Istanbul showed us exactly what we expected. We could set a good course, but we were always under pressure and therefore unable to show our true potential while serving and passing. Naturally, we have to be realistic and see the difference in strength."

Marcello Abbondanza, head coach of THY Istanbul: "I think we did a good job. The win was very important for us and the team did their job very well. The first set went by very easily and fast and from then on it was a quick match. We are very happy."




For more info, go to the CEV Challenge Cup 2020 section.