Ivan's Volleyball Page

Written by Administrator
Wednesday, 19 November 2008 21:54
Ziraat wins and advances to next round of Turkish Cup! Just a quick note this time, today's game was against another good team from Istanbul, İst.B.Şehir Belediyesi. We faced this match after having two losses in a row so our spirits were not as confident as a couple of weeks ago. That did not stop us from trying everything in our reach to come out strong and to end up in the winning column for the night. The game started quite good for both teams, they were both playing good level of volleyball and it showed with some exciting rallies that both teams wanted the win and to stay alive in the Turkish Cup. The first set was a close one but at the end we won it and with that the first blow was given and in our favor. In the second set and like it happens over and over again in volleyball the team that won the first set comes out a bit flat and the other teams takes this in its advantage and builds a good lead. Anyways, that is exactly what happened in the second and İst.B.Şehir Belediyesi was strong enough to finish that set and tie the match at one a piece. The third set was the decisive one where both teams at the beginning were fighting for every ball but thanks to a combination of good defense from Ziraat and some mistakes from İst.B.Şehir Belediyesi the set slowly went our way and at the end we finished that set and lead the match 2 sets to 1. We knew that we could not relax and nobody in our side wanted to play a 5th set so we came out strong and things worked out our way and we were able to build what seemed a comfortable lead in the 4th set but early in it. I believe we were leading 8-4 and in the second technical timeout we had an even bigger lead at about 16-10. But as we have seen before that means nothing and the match is not finished until that last point is called in favor of the winning team. The good thing is that we had enough points to give away at the end of that set since İst.B.Şehir Belediyesi never gave up and kept trying. At the end we won that last set and with that a very difficult match to go to the next round of the Turkish Cup. The feeling the team has for the moment is a completely different one that we just had a couple of hours ago after losing 2 matches in a row. It is nice to return into the winning mood. Our next match is again in the Turkish Voleybol Ligleri this Saturday against Belediye Plevne Tocat, a team that has won most of their games so we can not underestimate them. We play in Ankara so we will be the locals again. We will see what happens, I will keep you all informed.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 19 November 2008 22:24 )

Written by Administrator

Sunday, 16 November 2008 11:41

Ziraat drops their second match!

The task Ziraat had this weekend was not an easy one. We all knew that but still we had hopes to go to Izmir and play a well organized Arkas team and come up with a positive result after losing our first match of the season in an exciting fashion against Halkbank.

Unfortunately things did not started Ziraat's way and a lot of calls by the referees made the lead for Arkas increase considerably in the first set and made that set pretty much gone for Ziraat. Arkas won that first set 25-21.

Ziraat never gave up and started strong in the second set and got an early lead in going into the first technical timeout at 4-8. Then still leading in the second technical timeout at 16-14 things started to change. One can really see that Arkas is a well trained team with an apparent discipline in the court and organizational skills that showed at the end of that 2nd set. While Ziraat has to rely on individual skills most of the time Arkas could rely on team playing and defense to finish that 2nd set in their favor winning it with a score of 25-23.

But Ziraat is a fighting team and they came out determined to win their first set of the night and they did, with a strange result if one looks at the statistics Ziraat was able to pull out and close that 3rd set in their favor. I say strangely since if one looks at the statistics for that 3rd set one can see that Ziraat was outscored percentage wise and Arkas also received better in that set but the result was still a 25-19 for Ziraat.

The 4th set was also one of determination by Ziraat and they were showing some character by leading into the first technical timeout at 8-6, but then the quality of the Arkas team showed and they were leading going into the second timeout by a score of 16-15, all this due to the fact that Ziraat could not side out in one rotation and gave up around 3 or 4 points in a matter of minutes. By then Arkas recovered their spirit and were able to run away with points until they closed the set and the match with a score of 25-21.

On another note, Ivan sprained his ankle in the second set thanks to one of Arkas players going under the net after one of his attacks, Gruzka. He acutally kept going under pretty much every time he hit the ball so that became annoying and quite dangerous for the player blocking him. The sprained ankle was not really bad and Ivan could continue playing but had to do so with a lot of pain. This morning his ankle is swollen and with some blood under the skin as it is normal but he is confident he will be in court next wednesday defending the Ziraat uniform once again.

There are a lot of mixed feelings after this match, in one side it is nice to play against a team that really knows how to keep their composure since one can see that they have been trained hard and prepared well. On the other hand I wish we would be more like that so that we could fell better prepared going into the weekend matches. Reality is a different one but we still fight for every point and that is a sign of a good team which Ziraat definitely is.

Our next match is not in the Turkish Aroma Ligleri but now in the Trukish Cup this coming wednesday against another great team in Turkey, Belediye Plevne. This promises to be a match to watch, hope to see you there.

For the statistics of the match click here and to check other results of the weekend go here.

Last Updated ( Sunday, 16 November 2008 12:01 )

Written by Administrator
Sunday, 09 November 2008 02:38
First Loss for Ziraat! 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.
Last Updated ( Sunday, 09 November 2008 16:12 )