Back in the league with our athletes and staff who were infected by coronavirus being recovered, the team lost the five-set home match against Nilüfer Belediyespor.
Guest team Nilüfer made a quick start to the game, leading 12-7 at the technical timeout. Even our American outside hitter Jordan Thompson’s strong attacks were not enough to take the lead in the first set which we lost by 25-16.
With young setter Elif Şahin’s serves, the team made a 5-0 streak at the beginning of the second set. Continuing our lead after the technical timeout (12-9), the team finished the second set 25-19 with outside hitter Fatma Yıldırım doing the finishing touch from the service line. Tigers scored a total of 6 blocks in the second set.
Nilüfer came out strong at the beginning of the third set. With our young outside hitter Saliha Şahin carrying her team during some crucial moments, we managed to win the thrilling third set 27-25. While Saliha Şahin scored 5 points in this set, Jordan Thompson and Chiaka Ogbogu scored 4 points each.
In the fourth set, guest team Nilüfer led the game after technical timeout (12-8) and brought the match to the decider set. Leading 8-6 when the teams switched sides in the tie-break, Nilüfer managed to finish the final set 15-13.
Post-game Interviews
Marco Motta: “It has been a long period without games. We tried to do our best by playing in different rotations but we couldn’t show a regular performance today. We will keep working to improve our game.”
Eczacıbaşı VitrA – Nilüfer Belediyespor: 2-3
Venue: Istanbul – Eczacıbaşı Sports Hall
Referees: Ramazan Çevik, Aylin Turnaoğlu.
Eczacıbaşı VitrA: Mirkovic, Hande, Yasemin, Melis, Thompson, Ogbogu, Simge (L), Elif, Fatma, Beyza, Saliha.
Nilüfer Belediyespor: Wilhite, Aslı, Maglio, Buse, Fulden, Yasemin, Buse Kayacan (L), Merve Tanıl, Merve Nezir.
Set Results: 2-3 (16-25, 25-19, 27-25, 19-25, 13-15)
Duration: 139 minutes (25,27,36,30,21)
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