Ivan's Volleyball Page

Written by Administrator
Saturday, 20 December 2008 23:22
End of the first round! Even though Ziraat won tonight none of the players felt like winners since the goal was not to loose any points and that is exactly what happened. We all wanted to win 3-0 or 3-1 and we worked hard for that in the first two sets and it showed in the scores convincingly winning both 25-18 and 25-19. But as we have seen over and over again in volleyball Polis who was our opponent tonight got a second wind and came out strong in the 3rd set and even stronger in the 4th tying things at 2 sets a piece by taking those 3rd and 4th set by a score of 23-25 and 22-25. A lot of things happened inside the court that we all think we have to do better in order to really feel like a worthy contender in the Aroma Voleybol Ligleri. Unfortunately we don't see that necessary preparation during practice which is crucial in order not to commit some important mistakes during tough moments in a match. We all, or at least I hope that for the second half of the season we get better prepared during the week in order to have done everything beforehand and not wait until things happen in the match to start talking about possible solutions and things to do. Time will tell if we get better prepared or not. Coming back to tonight's match, the fifth set was a nail biter but at the end Polis sort of broke down and Ziraat was able to come back with some good counterattacks and some blocks to seal the game in their favor with a 3-2 score by taking that last set 15-10. For stats of the match click here and for other results here. Now the league has a break for about 2 weeks in which many of the foreigner players are going back to their countries to spend Christmas and New Years with their family. It has been hard in that sense for some of us that are used to always being with our immediate family but I am sure this next days are going to fuel my hunger to work even harder coming January since we all know that the second part of the season will be a tough one. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Last Updated ( Saturday, 20 December 2008 23:36 )

Written by Administrator

Sunday, 14 December 2008 01:31

Ziraat travels to Bozkurt and wins!

This weekend Ziraat did not have a completely easy match. They had to travel all the way to Bozkurt crossing mountains and valleys to get there and play in front of a hostile crowd that kept pushing for their local team to do well.

The good thing is that all the players for Ziraat knew of this situation and faced the match accordingly and were able to come back with a good 3-0 win away from home.

The game started great for our players in red and they quickly had a comfortable lead in the first set thanks to good service and blocking on all positions. They won that set easily 25-12.

The second set saw a more determined Bozkurt team. They came out with more fire than in the previous set and were able to have the lead in most of the set but at the end and thanks to a couple of good plays by our Ziraat team players they were able to take that second set too with a score of 25-23. This might have been the turning point of the night since Bozkurt just could not recover from losing a set where they had been leading the whole way.

The third set was not a walk over but it was one where our players had not much pressure and knew that it was just a matter of time before it was all over. Their setter started varying plays that kept the Boskurt players guessing and under a lot of stress. All the Ziraat players hit at a high percentage level and that made it pretty much impossible for the opponent to stay in the set. The score of that last set, a 25-18 for Ziraat.

With this result Ziraat earns another 3 points and stays in the 3rd position of the Aroma Voleybol Ligleri, there is just one more round of matches next weekend before the end of the year break in the season and it seems that Ziraat will welcome the new year in the 3rd position if they don't drop any points against Police Academy next Saturday, a feat that they had not been able to accomplish in many many years.

For stats of the match click here and for other results here.

Last Updated ( Sunday, 14 December 2008 01:49 )

Written by Administrator
Sunday, 07 December 2008 01:47
Ziraat wins and recovers crucial points! Just a quick note this time. Ziraat had a tough match this weekend when they faced Maliye Milli Piyango Spor Klub, a team that when having a good night can beat pretty much anybody in the Aroma Voleibol Ligleri. Fortunate Ziraat came out strong and had the match under control for the first two sets and won both of those by a score of 25-19 and 25-18. Things changed in the third set where Ziraat got stuck in one rotation and Maliye made around 8 points in a row and with that they pretty much sealed the deal by winning that third set and extending play for a 4th set. They won that set easily by a score of 25-13. Ziraat new that after the defeat Halkbank had tonight against the league favorite Arkas that they had to come out tonight with 3 points to move up one position in the standings and recover 3rd place. That made every player a bit nervous at the start of the 4th set but they all came out strong and showed they wanted to win the match in 4 sets by taking that last one by a score of 25-19. Ziraat's next match is in Bozcurt next Saturday, everybody says that it is a difficult place to play at and to come out with a comfortable win so I hope Ziraat has a good week of practice and takes the coming challenge seriously. For stats of this match click here and for other results here.
Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 December 2008 01:56 )