Manila, Philippines, October 22, 2016 – Eczacibasi Istanbul coach led his team to another finals appearance in the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship on Saturday, and explained that their defence was exceptional to counter their strong rivals, VakifBank Istanbul.
Massimo Barbolini, Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul coach: “It was a wonderful match. I'm very happy that we won, thanks to defence. We have unbelievable plays in attacks, but if we want to win against unbelievable teams like VakifBank, you have to play good defence. Attacks and blocks are not enough.
“Everyday we have to improve our level (of play), but for sure tomorrow in the finals, we’ll do something better.”
On pressure of being a champion team:
“I don't believe in what happened in the past. Every season is a new season. Being in the finals is a great result but it's not enough. One ball can change every thing, I don't know what can happen.
“We have to do little things on a tactical point of view. We'll be watching the opponents closely.”
Neslihan Demir, Eczacibas VitrA Istanbul: “They played really well but in the end we won. We are very happy that we won today because we'll play in the finals. We want to win this championship.”
Giovanni Guidetti, VakifBank Istanbul coach: “I think it was a great match. They did everything a little better than us, they're very strong. They have a lot more than us, but we are only at the beginning of the season. I hope in three to four months, our gap in level will be much smaller.”
Gozde Kirdar, VakifBank Istanbul captain: “They did everything better than us on the court. We will do our best tomorrow.”