VakıfBank beats Fenerbahçe to win record 8th women's volleyball cup
VakıfBank players celebrate after winning the national women's volleyball cup title, Ankara, Turkey, April 17, 2022. (AA Photo)


VakıfBank clinched a record eighth Turkish women’s volleyball cup volleyball crown after defeating Fenerbahçe 3-2 in the final Sunday.

VakıfBank started the match on a high note but Fenerbahçe, led by Melissa Vargas, Arina Fedorovtseva and Eda Erdem, staged a brilliant fight back.

Turkish stars Cansu Özbay, Zehra Güneş, Swedish star Isabelle Haak and U.S.’ Michelle Bartsch-Hackley guided Vakifbank to 15-12 in the first set when Fenerbahçe took a timeout.

The Yellow Canaries fought back after the break, securing an 8-1 series and taking a 20-16 lead, before eventually winning the set 25-21.

Vakifbank fought back in the second set to win it 25-21 and level the game 1-1, before going on to comfortably win the third set 25-13 and take a 2-1 lead.

Fenerbahçe, however, fought back in the fourth set winning it by taking the set 29-27, equalizing the score 2-2 and sending the match to the tiebreaker.

After a neck-to-neck battle, where both teams were level at 9-9 at one point, VakifBank won the fifth set 17-15 to lift a record eighth cup in club history.