Trento, 26 February 2025

2025 CEV Cup, Semifinal challenge against the turks of Ziraat Bank Ankara (12-19 march)

The qualification for the 2025 CEV Cup semifinals, which took place this evening at ilT quotidiano Arena, allowed Trentino Volley to enter the pool of the best four teams in the competition. The next step to pass in order to qualify for the Final will see a Turkish team as their opponent.
In the sixth double act of the competition (which always offers only round-robin matches) Trentino Itas will face Ziraat Bank Ankara, which on Tuesday night, in the quarterfinals, eliminated the Slovenians of Lubiana. The first leg will be played in Trento between the 11th and 13th of March, the second leg back to Turkey between the 18th and 20th of March 2025. For the official date and time of the game, we will have to wait for the confirmation by the individual Clubs, in agreement with the respective national federations and the CEV.
As with what happened during the previous rounds, the qualification will be awarded to the team that has scored the most points during the double match in the ranking, based on the two games in which they are assigned - just like the SuperLega championship - 3 points for the victory by 3-0 and 3-1, 2 for the victory by 3-2 and 1 for the defeat by 2-3. The golden set (play-off set to be played until a team reaches 15 points at the end of the second game) will only be played in case of a tie.

The profile of Ziraat Bank Ankara
Compared to the major Turkish volleyball clubs, it has less tradition (it was founded in 1981) and therefore counts fewer victories in its history: in addition to three championships (won consecutively between 2021 and 2023), the only trophies present in the Club’s possession are a Turkish Cup (won in 2010), four Super Cups (2010, 2021, 2022 and 2023) and a Balkan Cup, won in 2018. In the 2020/21 season, it achieved the highest international result, almost winning the Challenge Cup (lost in the double final to Allianz Milano, which also included Sbertoli and Pesaresi), while in the 2024 edition of the Champions League (won by Trento) it reached the semifinals, only to be eliminated by Jastrzebski.
This is its eighth participation in the CEV Cup, an edition in which he has so far won only (eight out of eight), eliminating listed teams such as Galatasaray and Las Palmas. In the national championship it is firmly at the top of the ranking, with just two defeats in twenty-one matches played, and twelve points ahead of the first runner (the cousins of Halkbank Ankara).
The coach Kavaz (who in February 2022 had taken the place of the Italian Santilli) has at his disposal a team that has so much talent, especially on high balls, taking into account that the titular spikers in position 4 are the American Anderson (formerly in Vibo, Modena and Perugia) and the Frenchman Clevenot (best player at the Olympics in Paris, who played in Italy with the shirt of Milan and Piacenza) while in the role of opposite the alternatives are two: the Slovenian Stern (formerly in Latina, Padova and Verona) and the Dutch Ter Maat. All the other players are native, except for the third hammer Zonca (Italian, formerly in Santa Croce and Ravenna); in the tour of the Turkish national team there are the setter Yenipazar, the middle-blocker Bülbül and Savas and the libero Bayraktar, the four athletes who complete the whole sextet.
With Trentino Volley, it has a single unofficial record, played in Trento on October 3rd 2014 (3-1 victory) in a pre-season friendly match. In its history, the yellow-blue club has played two official matches against a team from Ankara (the Halkbank) right in the CEV Cup, losing both: the 2005 edition of the tournament, losing twice on a 1-3 in the round of 16 (on the 7th of December 2004 at home, then eight days later in Turkey).

Starting six: Yenipazar (s), Stern (o), Anderson-Clevenot (s), Savas-Bulbul (m), Bayraktar (l).

The journey in the 2025 CEV Cup
Round of 32
VaLePa Sastamala-Ziraat Bank Ankara 1-3 (20-25, 11-25, 25-22, 15-25)
Ziraat Bank Ankara-VaLePa Sastamala 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-17)
Round of 16
Galatasaray HDI Istanbul-Ziraat Bank Ankara 1-3 (25-22, 16-25, 21-25, 13-25)
Ziraat Bank Ankara-Galatasaray HDI Istanbul 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-18)
Play Off
Guaguas Las Palmas-Ziraat Bank Ankara 2-3 (26-24, 27-29, 15-25, 25-19, 9-15)
Ziraat Bank Ankara-Guaguas Las Palmas 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-21)
Quarter-finals
ACH Volley Ljubljana-Ziraat Bank Ankara 0-3 (21-25, 20-25, 19-25)
Ziraat Bank Ankara-ACH Volley Ljubljana 3-2 (25-20, 25-18, 20-25, 23-25, 15-13)

Trentino Volley Srl
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