Turkish powerhouse VakıfBank beat Italian side Imoco Volley 3-2 to lift its fourth FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship title in Ankara Sunday.
VakıfBank made a flying start to the match, winning the first set 25-15 after going up 12-7.
The Italians, however, fought back in the second set, taking a tactical break following a 12-9.
Their Istanbul-based opponent then drew level on 19-19, but Imoco Volley clinched the second set 25-22 with a series of brilliant blocks.
The third set tipped off with both coaches complaining over decisions by the referee. But, neither side took their feet off the gas as VakıfBank took a break when the score was 12-11.
It returned to the game with a number of serves and block to clinch the set 25-22 and go up 2-1.
VakıfBank’s Isabelle Haak led the attack for her side, giving it a 12-9 lead.
The Italians then crawled their way back into the game with Paola Egonu and were level at 13-13. Imoco Volley then quickly made it 19-16, before eventually winning the set 25-22. The match was once again level.
VakıfBank responded with zeal in the final set going up by 5-2, forcing its opponent to take a technical break.
Nevertheless, it did little to change the flow of the game as Haak and U.S.’ Michelle Bartsch-Hackley led from the front to secure the set 15-7 and win the final 3-2.
Haak was named the player of the tournament for her brilliant performance throughout the five-day event.
Earlier in the day, Fenerbahçe clinched the third spot in the tournament following a 3-0 rout of its Brazilian opponent Minas.
VakıfBank's win capped off a particularly good year for women’s volleyball and will be considered a mark of continuous improvement of the sport in Turkey.
Earlier in June, the Turkish women’s national team beat Japan 3-0 to bag the bronze medal in the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League.
The Sultans of the Nets then embarked on their Tokyo 2020 Olympics campaign. They beat defending world champion China, and international heavyweight Russia to qualify for the quarterfinals, where they lost to the eventual gold winner, South Korea.
Then in September, the national team put on an inspired display to reach the CEV EuroVolley 2021 semifinals.
Turkey defeated European heavyweights like Romania, Ukraine, Finland and Poland, before losing the last-eight meeting against Serbia.
The team then beat the Netherlands to clinch the bronze medal.
