VakıfBank S.K.

VakıfBank Sports Club (Turkish: VakıfBank Spor Kulübü) is a Turkish professional volleyball club based in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded in 1986, VakıfBank SK are currently one of the best women's volleyball teams in the world, having won the FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship a record four times and the European Champions League six times to date.[1]

VakıfBank SK
Full nameVakıfBank Spor Kulübü
Short nameVakıfBank
Founded1986
GroundVakıfBank Sports Palace, Istanbul
(Capacity: 2,000)
ChairmanAbdi Serdar Üstünsalih
ManagerGiovanni Guidetti
CaptainGabriela Guimarães
LeagueSultanlar Ligi
CEV Champions League
WebsiteClub home page
Uniforms
Home
Away
Championships
4 World Championships
6 European Championships
1 CEV Cup
1 CEV Challenge Cup
1 Top Volley International
13 Turkish Championships
9 Turkish Cups
5 Turkish Super Cups

From 23 October 2012 to 22 January 2014, the team held a 73-games winning streak in all official domestic and international competitions, which was acknowledged as a world record by Guinness World Records.[2][3] The club won all 52 official games played during the 2012–13 season[4] and all 51 official games played in 2013.[5] VakıfBank collected all five championship trophies unbeaten in the 2012–13 season, being the only club in volleyball history to have achieved this unparalleled feat.[2]

History

The team was established following a merger between two separate teams: VakıfBank and Güneş Sigorta.[1] VakıfBank were originally an Ankara-based team but moved to Istanbul after the merger. Their name changed to VakıfBank Güneş Sigorta, VakıfBank Güneş Sigorta Türk Telekom (VGSTT), VakıfBank Türk Telekom and VakıfBank respectively.[6]

VakıfBank won three unbeaten CEV Champions League championships in 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018, and are the only unbeaten champions in European Champions League history. They also placed second in 1998 and 1999 in this competition. They won the 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2021 Club World Championship, the CEV Top Teams Cup in 2004 and CEV Challenge Cup in 2008 while finishing second in the FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship in 2011 and third in the European Confederation Cup of 2000.[7]

The team is coached by Italian Giovanni Guidetti since 2008. VakıfBank won 47 games of 47 in the 2012–13 season in all competitions including the European Champions League (12 games), Turkish League (29 games), and Turkish Cup (6 games). After that season, they kept most of the players and coaching staff for the 2013–14 season with little changes: Jelena Nikolic, who took a break volleyball for one year, came back to the team and Italian international Carolina Costagrande transfers from Chinese club Guangdong Evergrande V.C. instead of Polish spiker Malgorzata Glinka and Japanese Saori Kimura. Glinka left the team after three great seasons and moved to her home country for familial reasons.

From 23 October 2012 to 22 January 2014, VakıfBank won 73 consecutive victories in all official competitions, which was acknowledged as a world record by Guinness World Records. During this feat the team won an unprecedented 5 trophies including the Club World Championship, European Champions League, and the domestic treble consisting of the Turkish National League, Turkish Cup and Turkish Super Cup. Their streak was finally ended on 27 January 2014 in a game against rivals Fenerbahçe.[2]

Venue

Since 2016, the club has played home matches at the VakıfBank Sports Palace (Turkish: VakıfBank Spor Sarayı) in Istanbul. The venue has a capacity of 2,000 spectators.[8]

Current roster

As of October 2023.

No. Player Date of Birth Height (m) Position Country
1 Ali Frantti 3 March 1996 1.85 Outside hitter  United States
3 Cansu Özbay 17 October 1996 1.82 Setter  Turkey
4 Karmen Aksoy 7 August 2003 1.92 Middle blocker  Turkey
5 Ayça Aykaç 27 February 1996 1.76 Libero  Turkey
7 Chiaka Ogbogu 15 April 1995 1.88 Middle blocker  United States
10 Gabriela Guimarães 19 May 1994 1.80 Outside hitter  Brazil
11 İdil Naz Başcan 30 August 1999 1.85 Outside hitter  Turkey
12 Bianka Buša 25 July 1994 1.90 Outside hitter  Serbia
13 Zeynep Sude Demirel 27 November 2000 1.97 Middle blocker  Turkey
14 Alexia Căruțașu[9] 10 June 2003 1.88 Opposite hitter  Turkey
16 Aylin Sarıoğlu 21 July 1995 1.68 Libero  Turkey
18 Zehra Güneş 7 July 1999 2.03 Middle blocker  Turkey
20 Sarah van Aalen 21 January 2000 1.87 Setter  Netherlands
21 Bahar Akbay[10] 21 January 1998 1.96 Middle blocker  Turkey
23 Jordan Thompson[11] 5 May 1997 1.93 Opposite hitter  United States

Honours

International competitions

Domestic competitions

Season by season
Season League Pos. Turkish Cup Turkish Super Cup European competitions Worldwide competitions
2015–16 TWVL 1st Runners-up CEV Champions LeagueRunners-up FIVB Women's CWC
2016–17 TWVL 3rd Runners-up CEV Champions LeagueC FIVB Women's CWC3rd
2017–18 TWVL 1st Champions Champions CEV Champions LeagueC FIVB Women's CWCC
2018–19 TWVL 1st 3rd Runners-up CEV Champions League3rd FIVB Women's CWCC
2019–20 TWVL Runners-up CEV Champions League FIVB Women's CWCC
2020–21 TWVL 1st Champions Runners-up CEV Champions LeagueRU
2021–22 TWVL 1st Champions Champions CEV Champions LeagueC FIVB Women's CWCC
2022–23 TWVL Runners-up CEV Champions League FIVB Women's CWCRU

Previous names
  • 1986–1999: Güneş Sigorta
  • 1999–2009: VakıfBank Güneş Sigorta
  • 2009–2011: VakıfBank Güneş Sigorta Türk Telekom
  • 2011–2012: VakıfBank Türk Telekom
  • 2012–present: VakıfBank

Notable players

Players written in italic still play for the club.

See also

References
  1. "Tarihçe [History]". vakifbanksporkulubu.com (in Turkish). VakıfBank SK. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  2. "Most consecutive volleyball victories in all competitions (female)". guinnessworldrecords.com. Guinness World Records. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  3. "Vakıfbank 73 yaptı çeyrek finale kaldı". Fanatik (in Turkish). 2014-01-23. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  4. "Genel Fikstür". Turkish Volleyball Federation (in Turkish). 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
  5. "Genel Fikstür". Turkish Volleyball Federation (in Turkish). 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
  6. "Yeni isimleri Vakıfbank Türk Telekom oldu". hurriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Hürriyet. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  7. Historic achievements of Vakıfbank Güneş Sigorta women's volleyball team
  8. "VakifBank unveil their new state-of-the-art home at VakıfBank Spor Sarayı". CEV. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  9. "Welcome home Aleksia".
  10. "Bahar Akbay joins VakıfBank".
  11. WoV (2023-06-20). "TUR W: VakıfBank Bolsters Roster with Two American Players for Upcoming Season: Jordan Thompson and Alexandra Frantti". WorldOfVolley. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
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