T&T-born Turkish international Sinead Jack-Kisal and her club, Eczacıbaşı Dynavit, tasted defeat in the second leg of their CEV Women’s Champions League quarterfinal against Poland’s Developres Rzeszow on Wednesday. Despite the five-set loss (17-25, 17-25, 25-23, 25-15, 15-12), the Turkish side advanced to the Final Four on aggregate, having won the first leg last week in four sets (22-25, 25-12, 25-20, 25-23).
Needing only to avoid a straight-sets defeat to secure a semifinal spot, Jack-Kisal and her Eczacıbaşı Dynavit dominated the opening two sets 25-17, 25-17. This effectively booked their tickets to the next round before Developres Rzeszow rallied to take the final three sets 25-23, 25-15, 15-12, a comeback that ultimately mattered little in the end.
Oliwia Sieradzka led Developres Rzeszow with a match-high 23 points, supported by Julia Piasecka (13), Nathalie Lemmens (9), and Svitlana Dorsman (8). For the visitors, Dana Lynn Rettke topscored with 11 points, while Magdalena Stysiak and Kathryn Plummer added 10 each. Anna Smrek contributed eight, while the trio of Jack-Kisal, Yaprak Erkek, and Ebrar Karakurt chipped in seven points apiece in the loss.
In the first leg last week, Eczacıbaşı Dynavit rallied for a 22-25, 25-12, 25-20, 25-23 triumph. Stysiak led that effort with 18 points, followed by Jack-Kisal (15), Karakurt (14), Erkek (12), and Rettke (11). Denise Bannister scored a match-high 21 points for Rzeszow with Lemmens getting ten.
With the aggregate win, Eczacıbaşı Dynavit advances to the semifinals to face the winner of the Savino Del Bene Scandicci versus Fenerbahçe Medicana series. Scandicci currently holds the advantage following a straight-sets win (25-23, 31-29, 25-19) in their first-leg match ahead of yesterday’s second leg.
In yesterday's other quarterfinal, Italy’s A Carraro P Doc Conegliano fell to Turkey’s Zeren Ankara (25-21, 25-17, 19-25, 30-32, 13-15) but advanced nonetheless due to their previous straight-sets victory, 25-21, 25-18, 25-17. They were scheduled to face either Turkey’s Vakifbank or Italy’s Numia Vero Volley Milano in the semifinals. Vakifbank leads that series after a five-set (24-26, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-11) opening win.
The semifinals and final are scheduled for May 2-3 at the Ülker Sports Arena in Istanbul, Turkey.
Jack-Kisal and her clubmates are also through to the semifinal playoffs of the Turkish Vodafone Sultan Women’s Volleyball League after they ended the 26-match regular season with a 20-6 win-loss record and 58 points in the fourth and final playoff spot, four points more than fifth-placed Galatasaray Daikin (17-9).
In the semifinals, Jack-Kisal and her teammates will face table-toppers Vakifbank, who finished with 73 points and a 25-1 record, six points more than second-placed Fenerbahçe Medicana (22-4), who face third-placed Zeren Spor (21-5 with 58 points).
