VakifBank will play a major role at the upcoming World Championship, with 13 of their players nominated by as many as six national teams, and both their coach and assistant coach also set to travel to Italy for this year's volleyball highlight
Istanbul, Turkey, September 4, 2014 - Turkey’s volleyball heavyweights VakifBank Istanbul will be playing a major role in the upcoming FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship Italy 2014, with 13 players on the roster of the runners-up in the last edition of the CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League competing for different national teams.
VakifBank head coach and assistant coach Giovanni Guidetti and Ferhan Akbas will also travel to Italy, at the helm of Germany’s national team and as assistant of Turkey’s squad respectively.
These figures cement VakifBank’s position and role on the international volleyball map. As far as Turkey’s national team is concerned, eight of the 14 players nominated for the World Championship currently play for VakifBank. Another five players have been called up by the national teams of Brazil, Bulgaria, Italy, the Netherlands and Serbia.
VakifBank’s players on the roster of the Turkish national team are Gözde Sonsirma, Gizem Karadayi, Bahar Toksoy Guidetti, Naz Aydemir Akyol, Güldeniz Önal Pasaoglu, Kübra Akman, Cagla Akin, and Hatice Gizem Örge. Carolina Costagrande will be wearing the Italian jersey, while Sheilla Castro is set to defend Brazil’s colours. Robin de Kruijf, Elitsa Vasileva, and Milena Rasic will be representing the national teams of the Netherlands, Bulgaria, and Serbia respectively.
This means that 13 out of 14 players currently with VakifBank are set to play at the World Championship, an unprecedented record at this level.
Last October, VakifBank won the 2013 edition of the FIVB Women’s Club World Championship, after seizing the trophy of the CEV Volleyball Champions League a few months earlier. VakifBank won silver in the Final Four of the 2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League, losing to Russia’s Dinamo Kazan in the final match. The team from Turkey has also set a Guinness record with their 73-win streak during the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 seasons.