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     TUR / Turkey

    		 
    Team manager Nilufer Basak SHIMONSKY
    Coach Massimo BARBOLINI
    Assistant coach Ferhat AKBAS
    2nd assistant coach Mustafa Suphi DOGANCI
    Doctor Ali SEHIRLIOGLU for Chinese Taipei
    Physiotherapist Sibel KAHYALIOGLU
       
     
        No.   Name Lastname Shirt Name Birthdate Height Weight Spike Block Club
      1 Güldeniz Önal Güldeniz 25.03.1986 183 75 296 290 VakifBank
      2   Gülden Kayalar Kuzubasioglu Gülden 05.12.1980 167 57 281 275 Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul
      L 3 Gizem Karadayi Gizem 14.01.1987 178 60 290 285 Volero Zürich
      4   Birgül Guler Guler 02.05.1990 178 68 305 290 BURSA BELEDIYE
      5 Ergul Avci Ergül 24.07.1987 190 75 300 285 GALATASARAY
      6   Polen Unver Unver 27.08.1990 193 65 320 310 Fenerbahce
      7 Seda Tokatlioglu Tokatlioglu 25.06.1986 192 80 312 304 BAIC Motor Pekin
      8   Bahar Toksoy Toksoy 06.02.1988 190 68 315 305 VakifBank Istanbul
      9 Özge Kirdar Kinasts Kinasts 26.06.1985 183 68 310 300 ECZACIBASI
      10   Gözde Sonsirma Sonsirma 26.06.1985 183 70 297 292 VAKIFBANK
      11 Naz Aydemir Akyol Naz 14.08.1990 186 68 304 294 Fenerbahçe
      12   Esra Gumus Kirici Esra 02.10.1982 181 76 305 297 ECZACIBASI
      13 Neriman Ozsoy Neri 13.07.1988 190 78 312 300 Minas Tenis Clube
      14   Gözde Yilmaz Gözde 09.09.1991 194 80 316 306 Eczacibasi Vitra Istanbul
      15 Ezgi Arslan Guc 23.03.1992 181 59 280 275 GALATASARAY
      16   Büsra Kiliçli Büsra 16.07.1990 188 84 297 291 Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul
      C 17 Neslihan Darnel Darnel 09.12.1983 187 72 315 306 ECZACIBASI
      18   Asuman Karakoyun Karakoyun 16.07.1990 180 72 293 289 Eczacibasi
      19 Ayse Melis Gürkaynak MELIS 20.04.1990 183 68 300 280 Vakifbank
      20   Kubra Caliskan KÃœBRA 13.10.1994 200 88 310 310 Vakifbank
      21 Asli Kalac Kalaç 13.12.1995 185 73 306 297 Galatasaray
      22   Dilara Bagci Bagci 02.02.1994 165 62 270 260 Eczacibasi
     C = Captain   L = Libero
     
    Team profile

    Volleyball came to Turkey in the aftermath of World War I, when an American called Dr Deaver brought the sport to the country. However, it was only in the 1960s that the sport started to take off in a big way and Turkey’s national teams started to participate globally. They played in their first major tournament in 1963 when they finished 10th in the European Championships. Improvement came slowly. In the 1981 and 1995 European Championships, they lost all of their matches, finishing 12th and 11th, respectively.

    More recently, Turkey finished second in the 2003 European Championships and added the bronze medal in 2011. In the European Volleyball League, they finished second, third and second from 2009 to 2011 and sixth in 2013. The Turkish women have improved in the FIVB’s global tournaments as well. In 2003, they finished seventh at the World Cup and since then, they have managed to place 10th (2006) and sixth (2010) at the World Championships, and seventh in the 2008 World Grand Prix.

    Since that time, the team has been improving and they are now a force to be reckoned with, capturing the bronze medal in last year’s FIVB World Grand Prix and qualifying for the Olympic Games for the first time where they performed admirably, sitting on the verge of the quarterfinals having beaten Serbia and Korea before Brazil edged them by one point after Turkey lost their last pool match to USA in straight sets and the eventual champions beat Serbia by the same margin. This year they also took the silver medal at the Mediterranean Games in June, losing to Italy in the final on home soil.

    Much to everyone’s pleasure, the only change in Turkey’s squad from last year’s superb performances is on the coaching bench where former Italian chief Massimo Barbolini has taken the reins over from Brazil’s Marco Aurelio Motta. Captain Esra Gumus and star attackers Neslihan Darnel and Neriman Ozsoy are three of 10 players who are returning from last year’s Olympics.

     
    Coach profile

    Italian Massimo Barbolini is coach of both Turkey's women's national volleyball team and Galatasaray SK.

    He was formerly coach of the national women’s team of Italy, leading them to victory in the 2007 and 2009 European Championships. If Turkey makes it to the World Grand Prix Finals this year, he will celebrate his 49th birthday in Sapporo on August 29.

    He played volleyball as setter but was forced into early retirement as a result of a serious injury when he was 20 years old.

    He became assistant coach to Julio Velasco at Panini Modena before being named coach of Sanyo Agrigento in 1989. He took the Sicilian team to Italy’s Serie A1 (first division) before moving on to coach Carimonte Modena.