EuroVolleyW 2023: The Sultans of the Net learned how to win

After the win in Volleyball Nations League in Arlington (USA) last July, the Turkish national team will be a real contender for gold medal in the upcoming EuroVolley 2023, with a brand new winning attitude provided by Italian head coach Daniele Santarelli

Fresh Volleyball Nations League winners Türkiye will be for sure one of the favourite teams in the upcoming CEV Eurovolley 2023. Experience, talent, enthusiasm, youth and a brand new winning habit will be the keys of Sultans of the Net’s performances in the tournament.

They are coming from the great win in VNL Final, an outstanding performance for Daniele Santarelli’s team in Arlington (USA), where the Turkish girls stunned Asian powerhouse China with a strong 3-1 at College Park Center, clinching their first-ever Volleyball Nations League win, thanks to a superb performance of 23-year-old Melissa Vargas, 21 kills, 2 blocks and 3 aces for Fenerbahçe’s opposite, who drove the Sultans of the Net to the first step of the podium.

Turkish girls are improving year by year at the top level of Europe, coming from three medals in last three editions of EuroVolley.

It was third place and bronze medal in 2017 and in 2021, and second place and silver medal in 2019, in a suffered defeat in the final in front of the home crowd in Ankara, a bloody tie break loss versus Serbia after a wonderful and intense game.

The Sultans of the Net will make their 11th consecutive appearance at the European Championships, their 16th in total, finishing on the podium five times, and together with Serbia, they are the two teams to have reached at least the Semifinals at each of the last four European Championships.

These insights show the real value and strength of Turkish national team in last decade.

In EuroVolley 2021 in Serbia the Sultans of the Net gained the 3rd Place by winning 3-0 the Bronze Medal Final over The Netherlands.

Italian head coach Daniele Santarelli, who succeeded on Türkiye’s bench to another Italian coach, Giovanni Guidetti in January 2023, took the guide of the team after winning the World Championships with Serbian national team in October 2022 in Netherland/Poland, confirming once again his great potential under pressure at the top level, after winning plenty of Italian Championships, one CEV Champions League and a Club World Championship with powerhouse Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano.

Türkiye will play in Pool C in Düsseldorf (GER) together with Germany, Sweden, Greece, Azerbaijan and Czechia in a very interesting pool, facing a couple of tough rivals. The Sultans of the Net will debut in the tournament on Friday 18th August versus Sweden of superstar Isabelle Haak, a young team debutant at the last edition of Eurovolley.

Then Türkiye will face Azerbaijan, Czechia, Greece and in last round of the Pool, Vital Heynen’s Germany, the home team, who aims to reach at least Quarterfinals.

After the outstanding performance in VNL, especially in the big final versus China, Turkish-Cuban opposite Melissa Vargas will be protagonist also at Eurovolley 2023, together with the other talented hammers Ebrar Karakurt, 23-year-old, and Derya Cebecioğlu (22), while the strong middle blockers Zehra Güneş (24) and experienced captain Eda Erdem Dündar (36) will provide power and alternative offensive solutions to setter Elif Șahin (22), with libero Örge Gizem (30) ready to receive, defend and dig the balls in the back row.

After Türkiye’s win in VNL, all the favourite squads in Eurovolley 2023 will need to keep an eye on them, because they definitely must be considered one of the top teams in the tournament.

Let’s see what will happen in this upcoming Eurovolley 2023, but Türkiye is for sure among the contenders for the gold medal, thanks to the big superstars in the roster and thanks to the winning mentality brought in by coach Daniele Santarelli.