VakıfBank S.K.


VakıfBank Sports Club are a Turkish 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 three times and the European Champions League four times to date.
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. The club won all 52 official games played during the 2012–13 season and all 51 official games played in 2013. 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.

History

The team was established following a merger between two separate teams: VakıfBank and Güneş Sigorta. VakıfBank were originally an Ankara-based team but moved to Istanbul after the merge. Their name changed to VakıfBank Güneş Sigorta, VakıfBank Güneş Sigorta Türk Telekom, VakıfBank Türk Telekom and VakıfBank respectively.
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 and 2018 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.
The team is coached by Italian Giovanni Guidetti. VakıfBank won 47 games of 47 in the 2012–13 season in all competitions including the European Champions League, Turkish League, and Turkish Cup. 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.

Venue

Since 2016 the club play their home matches at the VakıfBank Sports Palace in Istanbul, the venue has a 2,000 spectators capacity.

Current Roster

''As of July 2020.
No.PlayerPositionDate of BirthHeight Country
1Gizem Örge26 April 19931.70Libero
3Cansu Özbay17 October 19961.82Setter
4Tuğba Şenoğlu2 February 19981.84Outside Hitter
5Ayça Aykaç27 February 19961.76Libero
6Kübra Çalışkan13 October 19941.97Middle Blocker
8Melis Gürkaynak20 April 19901.85Middle Blocker
9Meliha İsmailoğlu17 November 19931.88Outside Hitter
10Gabriela Guimarães19 May 19941.80Opposite Hitter
11Isabelle Haak11 July 19991.95Opposite Spiker
13Michelle Bartsch-Hackley12 February 19901.93Outside Hitter
14Gözde Yılmaz9 September 19911.95Opposite Spiker
16Milena Rašić25 October 19901.91Setter
17Maja Ognjenović6 August 19841.83Outside Hitter
18Zehra Güneş7 July 19991.97Middle Blocker

Honours

International competitions

Domestic Players
European Players
Non-European Players