VakifBank Istanbul celebrate their victory in the CEV Volleyball Champions League
Bucharest, Romania, May 6, 2018 - 2017 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship winners VakifBank Istanbul defended their CEV Volleyball Champions League title on Sunday, adding a fourth gold medal in the competition to their record. The Turkish powerhouse cruised to an impressive 3-0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-17) victory against hosts CSM Volei Alba Blaj.
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As the favourites against the first Romanian team in history to play in a Champions League final, VakifBank made sure they immediately showed who would be calling the shots and stormed into the first set with a 9-1 run. With support coming from the packed stands, Alba levelled the game, but it was already too late to level the score. Supported by hundreds of their own supporters, and led by an excellent Zhu Ting, VakifBank cruised on to a comfortable 25-17 win in the first set, with Zhu acing for the last point.
Coach Giovanni Guidetti’s squad were merciless in the second set. With an almost perfect organisation at the net and Milena Rasic at her best, VakifBank ran off with a 25-11 win.
Alba attempted a comeback at the beginning of the third set. They even managed a four-point lead at the first technical time-out, but this was as far as they could go. VakifBank caught up at 9-9, and after 11-11 scored five in row to determine the outcome. Lonneke Slöetjes was instrumental in her team’s speedy turnaround and it was she who had the honour of hammering the last ball of the season, closing the set, the match and the tournament at 25-17.
Read more about the competition on
cev.lu.