Luxembourg, April 7, 2021. While VakifBank Istanbul are looking to win their fifth Champions League gold medal in the history of the club, the potential victory would be a third gold medal for one of the longest standing members of the squad - Milena Rasic. The Serbian middle blocker is coming towards the end of her seventh season in the VakifBank team and she remains one of the leaders of Giovanni Guidetti’s squad.
Rasic provided a consistent performance throughout the 10 matches VakifBank have played in the Champions League this season. With 99 points scored thus far, Milena is the second best scorer in her team, trailing behind Isabelle Haak; and the best scoring middle blocker across all clubs. Within her point tally, the player contributed 22 blocks, 6 aces and 71 winning spikes. The number of blocks gave her a sixth place in the competition ranking, just one behind her teammate Isabelle Haak.
The Champions League courts are familiar to the Serbian star, who has won four medals in this tournament so far - all with the Turkish club. Rasic won bronze and silver medals in the 2015 and 2016 editions of the competition respectively, before winning two Champions League titles in 2017 and 2018. She was named Best Middle Blocker of the competition three times - in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
Her fruitful club career with VakifBank Istanbul continued across the Turkish League and FIVB Club World Championship, recording multiple honours in both. Rasic won the Turkish League twice - in 2018 and 2019, as well as Turkish Super Cup in 2017 and Turkish Cup 2021, just a few weeks ago. At the FIVB Club World Championship, VakifBank celebrated a gold medal two times with Rasic in their squad - in 2017 and 2018, while in 2016 and the latest edition of this tournament (2019) the team finished with a bronze medal.
But the successful campaign since joining VakifBank Istanbul is just the tip of the medal iceberg gathered by the 30-year old middle blocker. Milena Rasic is a member of the Serbian national team since 2009 and is part of one of the most successful periods for her team on international courts. Among her most valuable international achievements, Rasic won FIVB World Championship gold medal in 2018, where she was named Best Middle Blocker of the tournament, and a silver medal at the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. She is also a double European champion, having won the competition in 2011 and 2017.
Milena Rasic and her team VakifBank Istanbul will be competing in the Super Finals against A. Carraro Imoco Volley Conegliano of Italy. For more details about the competition go to our Super Finals website.