Former national women's volleyballer Sinead Jack-Kisal was one of three players in double-figure scoring as Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul battled past Developres Rzeszow in five sets (3-2) in their 2022/2023 Women’s European Champions League Volleyball quarterfinal second-leg to book a spot in the final four on Thursday.
Playing in front their home crowd at the TVF Burhen Felix Sports Hall in Istanbul, Turkey, Eczacibasi only had to win two sets to book a spot in the semifinals, as they won the first duel 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-16, 28-16) at Hala Podpromie, Rzeszow, in Poland last week and in the end twice came from a set down to 20-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-21, 15-8.
For the host, Serbian captain Tijana Boskovic led all scorers with 30 points while Irina Voronkova added 16, Jack-Kisal 14, and the pair of Hande Baladin and Yasemin Guveli, seven points each in the five-set thriller while Gabriel Orvosova led Developres Rzeszow with 21 points, with good support from Ann Kalandadze who got 17, Magdalena Jurczyk with 12, and Weronika Szlagowska with 11.
With the win, 16-time Turkish champions Eczacibasi Dynavit, set up a semifinal with Italians Igor Gorgonzola Novara after the latter won 25-18, 25-19, 25-21 in their second-leg over against Germany’s Allianz MTV Stuttgart on Wednesday to follow up on their first-leg 21-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-23 triumph.
It is also the sixth time in the club's history that Eczacibasi Dynavit has reached the Champions League semifinals/final four, having won the title in 2015, while they were third in 2017, and finished fourth in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2014.
Eczacibasi Dynavit advanced directly to the quarterfinals after they topped their four-team round-robin Pool E series with a perfect 6-0 record and a maximum of 18 points, eight ahead of Poland’s Grupa Azoty Chemik Police, while Developres Rzeszow was second in Pool A with a 4-2 record, to finish behind A. Carraro Imoco Conegliano (6-0) before beating France’s Volero Le Cannet in a ‘Golden Set’ in their playoff.
In the other half of the draw, fellow Turkish club Vakifbank, the defending champions beat Italy’s Vero Volley Milano 25-18, 25-19, 25-17 and 18-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 15-11 and will face fellow Turkish club Fenerbache Opet who overcame reigning world club champions and finalist for the past three seasons, Italians Imoco Conegliano, 25-19, 25-17, 25-19 in the first-leg, and then went under, 25-23, 25-15, 23-25, 20-25, 13-15, in the second-leg.
However, Fenerbache only needed to win two sets in the second leg after sweeping the first, to secure their spot in the final four.
Domestically, the 28-year-old Jack-Kisal who has now acquired Turkish citizenship and her club are unbeaten at the top of the Turkish Women’s Volleyball Championship (Misli.com Sultanlar Ligi) with a 20-0 win-loss record and 59 points, nine clear of Vakifbank (17-3) ahead of their next match versus Aydein Sunday.
Third on the standings is Fenerbache OPET with a 16-4 record and 48 points followed by Turk Hava Yallori (14-5) with 42, and Galatasaray (13-7) with 39 to round out the top five clubs on the 14-club table.
They are followed by Nilufer (10-10) with 31 points, Aydin (9-11) with 29, and Kuzeyboru (9-11) with 27 in the eighth and final playoff qualification spot, while Cukurova (9-10) with 26, Sarriyer (9-11) with 23, and PTT (7-13) with 20 points are all still in contention as well to extend their season. The trio of Sigorta (4-16) with 15, Bolu (2-18) with eight, and winless Ilbank at 0-20 and without a point occupying the bottom three spots.