Former national women’s volleyballer Sinead Jack had two straight matches in double-digit scoring to help Eczacibasi Dynavit keep up their quest for top spot in the Turkish Vodafone Sultan Women’s Volleyball League.
On Sunday, middle-blocker Jack was one of five players to score in double-figures as Eczacibasi Dynavit eased past Zero Dispute in four sets.
Playing away at the IBB Cebeci Sports Complex, Dynavit won for the 13th time in 15 matches, 25-18, 23-25, 25-10, 25-19 led by captain Tijana Boskovic's 21 points while Dana Lynn Rettke got 12, Jack and Yaprak Erkek 11 each and Kathryn Boden, ten in the 98 minutes match-up.
For Zero Dispute, Aleksandra Uzelac tallied a match-high 22 points with Brankica Mihajlovic the other player in double-figures with 13 points while Kubra Akman got seven and Seyma Erca Kucukaslan, six.
Then on Wednesday, with the trio of Boskovic, Hande Baladin and Beyza Arici all rested, Alexa Gray led Dynavit with 17 points while Rettke tallied 14, and the pair of Jack and Nicoletti ten each in their 25-13, 25-12, 25-18 defeat of Sariyer.
With the back-to-back wins, Jack, and Dynavit stayed second on the 14-club standings with 42 points and a 14-2 win-loss record, the same record as leaders Fenerbache Medicana (14-2), who have 44 points, while third-placed Vakifbank also has a similar 14-2 record and 40 points followed by Turk Hava Yollari with a 12-4 mark and 35 points while Galatasaray sits fifth with an 11-5 record and 36 points.
Last week, Jack was one of three key players rested as Dynavit's made it five straight wins in Group B of the European Women’s Volleyball Champions League when they came from behind to beat Tent Obrenovac of Serbia 21-25, 25-10, 25-16, 25-22.
With the win, Dynavit improved to a perfect 5-0 record and a maximum of 15 points, seven clear of Tent Obrenovac who dropped to a 3-2 record with eighth points while Germany’s Schweriner is next at 2-3 with five points after a 23-25, 25-12, 25-21, 21-25, 15-12 defeat of winless Paris St Cloud of France.
With only one round of matches in pool play to come, Dynavit who faces Paris on January 22 in their final match is certain to finish as Group B winners to earn an automatic spot in the quarterfinals with the four other pool winners while the five second placed teams and the best third placed team will qualify to the round-of-16 play-offs.
The remaining third-placed teams will compete in the quarterfinals of the CEV Cup, the second tier of the European competition.
For Dynavit, Kathryn Plummer registered a match-high 19 points while captain Tijana Boskovic, playing before her home crowd tallied 15, Jovana Stevanoic 12 and Dana Rettke, 11 with Yaprak Erkek adding nine in the 96 minutes encounter.
On the other side of the net, Malina Terrell and Mina Mijatovic both scored 14 points each for Tent Obrenovac while Natasa Cikuc got 11, and the duo of Nevena Sajic and Djurdja Stanojevic eight points apiece in the loss.
