In what many people considered so far to be the best match of the current Aroma Voleybol Ligleri Season in Turkey, Ziraat ended up in the losing side of the night against a worthy opponent in Halkabank. The Ankara Derby promised to be a spectacular one and it did not disapoint to say the least.
The first set started with both teams being hesitant at best but Ziraat took advantage of a better rythm and took that first set 25-21.
The second set was an exciting one with a lot of rallies but at the end Halkbank capitalized on some reception errors by Ziraat to take that second set 25-23.
The third set once again showed the potential of Ziraat and the variety they can have in offense and they took it easily by winning it 25-15.
Halkbank came back strong in the 4th and Ziraat sort of relaxed and gave a huge lead but at the end the set was won by barely by Halkbank with a 25-23 score to send the match to a 5th and decisive set. The crowd in attendance was going crazy by this point, enjoying every point that was being fought in the court. There were like it has been all season in Ankara a lot more spectators cheering for Ziraat than they were for Halkbank.
As we all know a 5th set can be won by anybody and that is why not too many teams like to reach that point in a match. Ziraat had a comfortable lead at 12-10 but suddenly things changed and Halkbank saw itself leading at 13-12 after no more than 2 minutes of play. At the end they finished the match with a couple of blocks against the crowd favorite, the Argentinean Maly to seal the match in their favor at 17-15.
Personally this has been the best game Ivan has had in Turkey since signing fur Ziraat. It was a good chance for him to show his variety in attack and his power at times. Too bad his best performance has to be tied to the first loss of the still young season of the Turkish league. There are a lot of things Ziraat can improve in practice and hopefully they will take care of that since that will make them a contender team in this 2008-2009 season. We will see what happens, keep reading and we will keep you informed.
Next we have a great challenge when we travel next Saturday to Izmir and face the favorite team in Turkey this season, Arkas. More news to come then.
For the statistics of this match click
here.
Like always for more results and statistics click
here.