Turkish women's volleyball team reach quarterfinals in CEV EuroVolley 2021

ISTANBUL

Turkey on Aug. 31 will take on Poland in the quarter-finals of the Women’s European Volleyball Championship after making six wins in six games with a win over the Czech Republic.

The Turkish women defeated the Czechs 3-1 (25 - 13, 22 - 25, 25 - 14 and 25 - 13) on Aug. 29 in front of more than 2,000 Turkish fans in Kolodruma Sports Hall in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Hande Baladin led all the scorers contributing 19 points for the win of Turkey, while her teammates Tuğba Şenoğlu and Ebrar Karakurt scored 16 and 15 points, respectively. Gabriela Orvosova was the top performer for the Czech Republic, finishing with 10 points.

Karakurt said losing a set usually has a positive effect on the squad. We like to come back,” she said after the game.

“When the team loses a set, we always stick together. We push each other knowing the importance of this match. Losing it meant we are out of the tournament, but we won,” she added.

The outside spiker also praised fans who were in the stands.

“Turkish fans are always amazing,” Karakurt said. “Whenever we go, they are always with us. This victory is for them.”

Turkey coach Giovanni Guidetti said his side played well in a very important game.

“Unfortunately, we made a lot of unfortunate mistakes in the second set, the Italian coach said. “But it’s normal and good for players to feel a lot of pressure. It was good for us to feel and experience this pressure. We look forward to the next match.”

Two other games in the quarter-finals will pit Sweden against the Netherlands and Serbia against France. The final matchup was to be decided late on Aug. 30.