Former T&T national volleyballer Sinead Jack-Kisal was one of four Eczacıbaşı Dynavit players to score in double figures as they handed previously unbeaten Vakifbak their first loss in the Turkish Vodafone Sultan Women’s Volleyball League on Sunday (January 18).
Inspired by outside hitter Ebrar Karakurt’s 22 points, Eczacıbaşı Dynavit triumphed 25-18, 24-26, 25-20, and 25-18 at the Vakifbank Sports Palace in front of 1,850 spectators.
The trio of Yaprak Erkek, middle-blocker Jack-Kisal and Magdalena Stysiak added 12, 11 and 11 points, respectively, with the 32-year-old Jack-Kisal, now a Turkish senior women’s team internal scorer, getting four blocks in her tally.
Vakifbank, meanwhile, was led by Marina Markova, who scored a match-high 23 points, while former Eczacıbaşı Dynavit captain and star player Tijana Boskovic added 19 in the loss.
Despite the win, which stretched their unbeaten run to ten matches in all competitions, Eczacıbaşı Dynavit stayed third in the Sultan Women’s Volleyball League 14-club standings with a 13-3 record and 37 points, with Vakifbank still at the top with a 15-1 record and 44 points, three more than Fenerbahçe Medicana (13-3), while Galatasaray (12-4) is next with 38, followed by Zeren Spor with the same 12-4 mark and 33 points.
Eczacıbaşı Dynavit will next be in action in league play on Wednesday, January 21, at home to cellar-placed Bahcelievler, who are yet to win a match in 16 rounds of competition, before travelling to Fenerbahçe Medicana on Saturday, January 24.
They will then shift their focus back to the CEV Women’s Champions League Volley for an away clash against Group C bottom-placed team Serbians Zeleznicar Lajkovac on Wednesday, January 28.
As it stands, Eczacıbaşı Dynavit has a 3-1 win-loss record in the four-team round-robin series for nine points, one behind Italy’s Numia Vero Volley Milano, who also have a 3-1 record, followed by Greece’s Olympiacos Piraeus at 2-2 and five points, and winless Zeleznicar Lajkovac, without a win and without a point.
— NIGEL SIMON
