Istanbul, Turkey, February 6, 2014.  Defending champion VakifBank ISTANBUL overcame RC CANNES of France by 3:1 (21-25, 25-7, 25-18, 25-9) in the 2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women Playoff 6 round.  This first-leg match at the Burhan Felek Volleyball Hall in Turkey was witnessed by 2840 spectators.

The visiting team got off to a comfortable 8-4 start of the first set.  VakifBank bounced back to narrow the gap, but the French side did not give up and kept going.  VakifBank’s Italian-born coach Giovanni Guidetti requested a time-out at 14-18.  The host team tried its best to come back but could not stop CANNES hitter Nadia Centoni through the last point for 21-25.

The Istanbul team was like a thunder in the second set.  Jovana Brakocevic, Carolina Costagrande and their teammates dominated the game by attacking and blocking successfully for an early 7-0 lead.  Captain Gözde Sonsirma made a solid contribution to widening that gap to 16-4.  The home heroines finally triumphed by a smashing 25-7 at the end of the set.

VakifBank’s libero Gizem Karadayi was injured early in the third set and had to be replaced by back-up player Güldeniz Pasaoglu.  This did not stop the team to storm to an 8-3 advantage.  VakifBank easily developed it to 16-7.  CANNES made some substitutions, but this did not work for anything more than getting to their 18th point in the set.

The Turkish squad completely dominated the fourth set.  Guidetti’s players did not lose any points before the first technical time-out – 8-0.  The French team continued to suffer through the rest of the set as the reigning champions rushed forward to a convincing 25-9 final score, shaping up their 3:1 victory.

Gözde Sonsirma was the leading scorer with 18 points for the winning side.

VakifBank coach Giovanni Guidetti stated: “It was a hard match, but we managed to cope with it.  Now we completely focus on the next match.”

Captain Gözde Sonsirma added: “Thinking of the second and the fourth sets, we crushed the opponent, but this is not a psychological advantage. We still remember what happened two years ago and that is why we will play at our best in the next game.”