Turkey: Ziraat prevail in their first playoff finals in 11 years and win a historical title!

Ziraat Bankkart became the 13th club that managed to win the title in the history of the Turkish Volleyball Championship.
In addition to win the regular season, they became the champions of the 2020/21 AXA Sigorta Efeler Ligi, thus claiming the first-ever title in the competition.
The club owned by one of the most influential banks in Europe was close to winning the championship trophy twice (silver medals in 1996 and 2010). On the second of these two occasions, they were stopped in the final exactly by their rivals in this years’ title duel, Fenerbahçe.

After beating 2nd-seed Fenerbahçe HDI Sigorta at tie break (29:31, 25:19, 27:25, 25:27, 15:11) in Game 4 of the playoff finals, the Ankara side prevailed in the series by a 3-1. Bulgarian Martin Atanasov was the man of the match today with very versatile play, scoring 30 points, including 6 blocks and 4 aces, but Ziraat setter Arslan Ekşi earned the MVP of the finals award.

Final’s Individual Adwards:
• Best setter: Arslan Eksi (Ziraat)
• Best outside-hitter: Martin Atanasov (Ziraat)
• Best middle-blocket: Graham Vigrass (Fenerbahce)
• Best opposite: Wouter Ter Maat (Ziraat)
• Best libero: Hasan Yesilbudak (Fenerbahce)
| MVP: Arslan Eksi (Ziraat)
| Special Award “Paidar Demir”: Bedirhan Bulbul (Ziraat)

______________

| 2020/21 Turkish AXA Sigorta Efeler Ligi playoff – Final – Best-of-five

| Game 1 | April 12, 2021
• Ziraat Bankkart Ankara – Fenerbahce HDI Sigorta Istanbul 3-1 (19:25, 25:19, 25:21, 25:19)

| Game 2 | April 15
• Fenerbahce HDI Sigorta Istanbul – Ziraat Bankkart Ankara 3-0 (25:22, 25:21, 25:16)

| Game 3 | April 18
• Ziraat Bankkart Ankara – Fenerbahce HDI Sigorta Istanbul 3-1 (25:19, 22:25, 25:22, 27:25)

| Game 4 | April 21
• Fenerbahce HDI Sigorta Istanbul – Ziraat Bankkart Ankara 2-3 (31:29, 19:25, 25:27, 27:25, 11:15) Serie: 1-3

______________

| 3/4th Place – Best-of-three
| Game 1 – April 12
• Arkas Spor Izmir – Galatasaray HDI Sigorta Istanbul 0-3 (23:25, 23:25, 26:28)
| Game 2 – April 15
• Galatasaray HDI Sigorta Istanbul – Arkas Spor Izmir 3-0 (25:23, 25:19, 25:23)

______________