Irem Elmas All-NEC - Battle of the Turks at Seton Hall - Hofstra and UMBC - UTRGV - Ucar the assists-machine!
Irem Elmas is picking up from where she left off… The NJCAA national champion and All-American carries over to All-Conference honors this week as NEC Prime Performer!
Cinel’s and Tokman’s Hofstra University came across Cagla’s Seton Hall for the very first time this season. The Turkish natives had the opportunity to play against each other in the Fairfield Invitational. Cagla’s Pirates prevailed against Cinel's and Tokman’s Pride with a sweep. Despite being a fresh new player for FAMU (after transferring from TCU), setter Irem Ucar is in great form and already broke her record of 29 assists with 41 assists! The sky’s the limit for both Irems this season!
Irem Elmas
Beginning the second week of their season, St. Francis College (NY) played in the Lehigh Tournament on August 31st and September 3rd & 4th. They lost the first 2 matches against Hofstra and Lehigh with scores of 1-3 for both. However, sophomore Irem Elmas did a really good job in the first game, scoring 8,5 points, with 7 kills and 2 blocks (1 solo), and 10 digs. For the rest of the tournament, St. Francis beat Binghamton on Saturday morning after 5 long sets, with Irem adding 11 kills. SFC then lost to Dartmouth that same afternoon in 4. However, Irem had a tremendous performance and took her leadership from the recent run to the NJCAA D1 national championship and NJCAA All-American status to the next level, by contributing 21 kills, 12 digs, and 2 aces, helping her case to All-NEC status this week!
Next obligations:
Yagmur Cinel and Damla Tokman
Hofstra started the Fairfield Invitational Tournament with a win (25-23, 17-25, 25-19, 25-22), as they improved to 3-2 this season. Sophomore Yagmur Cinel recorded 2 assists and 8 digs while Damla Tokman recorded 2 blocks and 1 dig. Hofstra is now 2-0 all-time against Kent State. It was the teams’ first meeting since 2015. Hofstra ended the Fairfield Invitational Tournament with a win. Set scores were 25-20, 15-25, 27-25, 14-25, and a gutsy 15-13 against the hosts Fairfield, a Top-35 team in 2020-2021. Hofstra improved to 4-3 this season. Fairfield fell to 1-5 with the loss. Hofstra is now 9-5 all-time against Fairfield. This match was the first encounter between the teams since a meeting in 2011. Sophomore Yagmur Cinel helped her team with 7 digs, while Damla Tokman recorded 5 kills, 1 ace, 1 block, and 3 digs.
Next obligations:
Cagla Bengi and Tsveti Ilieva
The Seton Hall women's volleyball team defeated the hosts Fairfield in an intense match, 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 25-23), for its first win of the season. Sophomore Cagla Bengi finished with a team-high 23 assists to go with 5 digs and 2 aces. For the first time in her career, Bengi had more than 20 assists (23) in a match. Seton Hall notched its first win of the season, improving to 1-3, while Fairfield dropped to 0-4. Hofstra was defeated by Seton Hall in 3 sets (25-21, 25-20, 25-15). Seton Hall improved to 2-3 on the season and a perfect 2-0 at the Fairfield Invitational, while Hofstra dropped to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the Fairfield tourney. The Pirates improved to 7-9 all-time against the Pride and snapped a four-match losing streak in the series. And this win, also a Seton Hall's three-set sweep, is its first of the season. Sophomore Cagla Bengi recorded 23 assists, 2 aces and 5 digs while Tsveti Ilieva recorded 4 kills, 1 ace, 1 block, 1 dig and 1 assist. Sophomore Yagmur Cinel from Hofstra recorded 1 kill, 1 ace, 1 block, 4 digs, while Damla Tokman from Hofstra recorded 1 block, 1 kill, and 1 dig. The Pirates then swept Kent State (25-17, 25-23, 25-16) and won the Fairfield Invitational Title. The Pirates dropped only one set en route to victories over Fairfield, Hofstra and Kent State this weekend, claiming their first early-season non-conference tournament since 2016. Seton Hall improved to an even 3-3 on the young season and a perfect 3-0 at the Fairfield Invitational, while Kent State dropped to 3-4 overall and 0-3 at Fairfield. Sophomore Cagla Bengi had a team-high 17 assists and 7 digs.
Next obligations:
Irem Ucar
FAMU Volleyball started the first day of the FGCU Inventional with a loss against Florida International University (26-24, 21-25, 25-22, 25-18) and followed with a win against University of South Carolina Upstate (25-20, 25-20, 25-17). First-year setter for FAMU, recent transfer from TCU, Irem Ucar, who has been in good form recently, recorded 41 assists, 4 digs and 1 kill in the first match and 36 assists, 10 digs and 1 kill in the second. Facing FGCU on the second day, FAMU lost 3-0 (22-25, 22-25, 19-25). Irem Ucar set up her teammates for 32 of the team's 36 assists, added 10 digs, 1 ace and 1 kill.
Next Obligations:
Sevgi Koyuncu
Such a long weekend for Lincoln Memorial University (1-3) and Sevgi Koyuncu after traveling to Aiken in North Carolina for the USC Aiken Invitational. On the 3rd of September, they played against UNC Pembroke (L 3-0) and Converse (W 3-2). The young defensive specialist took part in all 8 games and had 5 digs in each match. The very next day, they played against Auburn Montgomery (L 2-3) and August (L 3-0) but they were very tired after the fight from the previous day so they lost both matches. Koyuncu had 2 assists, 1 ace and 4 digs in the first match and 4 digs in the second.
Next obligations:
Ozge Yavuz & Karya Suvarioglu
September started out... neutral for Yavuz’s and Suvarioglu’s New Mexico Military Institute (9-2) as they added two wins and two losses to their record. Last weekend, the Broncos travelled to Utah for the Salt Lake CC Invitational and came across Central Wyoming College, Western Nebraska Community College, Casper College and Northeastern Junior College. In the sweep against CWC (25-13, 25-22, 25-10), Suvarioglu had 1 kill, 12 assists, 1 block assist and 1 dig, while in the first loss of the season against WNCC (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 25-22), the young setter had 1 kill, 15 assists, 3 digs and 4 blocks (2 of which solo). The next day, the NMMI Broncos played against Casper, whom they quite easily swept as well (25-14, 25-12, 25-15). Once again, Suvarioglu played for the whole match and recorded 13 assists, 2 digs and 1 block. For the last game against NJC, the Broncos did not make it and lost in 4 (25-21, 16-25, 25-23, 25-19). Suvarioglu had 25 assists, 3 digs and 2 blocks while Yavuz made an appearance in that match for one set and she had 1 dig and 1 solo block.
Next obligations:
Rana Kamis & Duru Ozkan
What a great start for Iowa Western, Kamis and Ozkan! The Reivers started their season the right way and now have 4 wins in 4 matches! Last weekend, Iowa Western travelled to Utah for the McCook CC Tournament and they literally dominated that gym! On the 3rd, they played against Independence Community College and Midland College. Ozkan had 1 ace and 8 digs in the first match and 1 ace and 18 digs in the second. On the 4th, they came across Garden City Community College and Hutchinson Community College. Ozkan had 3 assists, 1 ace and 15 digs against GCCC and 2 assists and 9 digs against HCC. Kamis did not participate in this tournament.
Next obligations:
10/9 vs. Western Nebraska Community College
11/9 vs. Utah State Eastern and Northeastern Junior College
Berra Tugce Tok
Tough start for Minot State University (0-4) and Berra Tugce Tok after suffering 4 losses in the Washburn Invitational. On the 3rd of September, the Beavers played against Cameron University and the University of Colorado and lost both matches, 2-3 (13-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-21, 3-15) and 0-3 (12-25,12-25,20-25) respectively. The freshman middle blocker played in 2 sets in the first match collecting 1 ace and 1 dig and played in all 3 sets in the second match collecting 4,5 points from 4 kills (with a 0.800 hitting percentage), 1 block assist and 2 digs. On the 4th, they came across #8 Washburn (L 3-0) and William Jewell College (L 3-1) but they were not able to get a win from those teams either. Despite the result, Tok had two solid performances. In the first match she had 3 points from 1 kill, 1 ace and 1 solo block and in the second match she was outstanding with 7 kills, 4 aces, 1 block assist and 2 digs.
Next obligations:
10/9 vs West Texas A&M University and Southern Nazarene University
11/9 vs #4 University of Nebraska-Kearney and Chadron State College
Didar Ozcan
With 3 wins and 2 losses Ozcan’s College of Southern Idaho (5-4) continued its 2021 schedule. On August 31st, the CSI Eagles played against Western Wyoming CC and had their 3rd sweep of the season (25-21,25-19,25-17). Ozcan participated in 1 set without scoring. Last weekend, they travelled to Utah for the SLCC Crystal "Inn"vitational. They firstly came across Northeastern Junior College and Casper College where they had a win (25-19, 25-21,25-22) and a loss (25-21,25-16,25-21) respectively. The young middle blocker had 1 kill and 3 block assists in the first match and 1 kill and 1 dig in the second. The next day, they played against Arizona Western College and Western Nebraska CC. In the ‘dub’ against AWC (25-19,25-19,25-22) Ozcan did not participate but in the loss against WNCC (25-23, 20-25, 12-25, 18-25) the sophomore had a really good performance with 4 kills, 6 block assists and 1 dig.
Next obligations:
8/9 vs Treasure Valley CC
9/9 vs Casper College
10/9 vs Laramie County CC
11/9 vs Central Wyoming College and Blue Mountain
Cansu Gunaydin
Rutgers volleyball opened the UConn Challenge sweeping CCSU with set scores of 25-13, 25-15, 25-23. Cansu Gunaydin registered a career-high five digs surpassing her previous best of three against No. 19 Ohio State last season and she also added 4 kills. Second game of the tournament, Rutgers brought home the tournament title with a 3-1 (25-11, 23-25, 25-17, 25-23) win over Lafayette. The Scarlet Knights improved to 5-1 on the year and are off to their best start since 2012. Cansu Gunaydin finished the tournament with 7 kills, 1 dig and 1 block.
Next Obligations:
Doga Topcicek
Topcicek’s Bradley University started this week’s obligations with a very competitive match against Oakland. The Bradley Braves lost after a 5-set thriller match (19-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-17, 14-16) that lasted more than 2 hours! Sophomore Doga Topcicek recorded 2 kills, 2 blocks and 6 digs. Despite the loss, the Bradley Braves swept Eastern Michigan University (20-25, 19-25, 22-25) the very next day! Doga Topcicek finished the match with 5 kills, 2 assists, 7 digs and career high 3 blocks.
Next obligations:
Ece Emrullah
Adding their first win for the season, TAMUCC volleyball started their second week. Playing in the SFA invitational, islanders took down Northern Arizona in a 4-set victory (21-25, 17-25, 25-18, 18-25) on Friday, September 3rd. Young Ece Emrullah had a great performance during the whole game, managing to contribute for her team with 2 kills, 3 blocks, 1 dig and 3 assists. The next day, TAMUCC faced Stephen F. Austin, but this time they lost in 4 (25-23, 22-25, 23-25, 20-25). The middle blocker from Istanbul had 2 kills, 3 blocks and 1 dig.
Next obligations:
6/9 vs Texas A&M
11/9 vs Texas Southern
Beste Ayhan & Mila Ilieva
The first game of September was also the first win for UMBC volleyball at the Cowtown Classic. They played against the undefeated UTRGV on the 2nd, but UMBC’s Retrievers won in 5 sets (25-18, 25-23, 26-28, 14-25, 15-11)! Beste Ayhan and Mila Ilieva battled with heart next to each other in this long game. The young internationals from Turkey and Bulgaria started in the line-up for their team and played for the whole game. Beste had 5 kills, 2 assists, 1 ace, 1 dig, and 8 blocks while Mila scored 12.5 points and had 2 digs. For the rest of the Cowtown Classic, their team played against Nicholls St. on Friday morning, ending with a four-set loss (25-21, 25-14, 14-25, 25-21) and the same afternoon they lost in 3 against TCU (25-14, 25-18, 25-23). Meanwhile, Beste and Mila started in both games and Mila had 7 kills and 7 blocks in total while Beste had 10 kills, 2 aces, 2 assists, 2 digs, and 2 blocks.
Next obligations:
Elif Su Yavuz
Continuing the successful first week of the season, Auburn University volleyball won both matches and did the 4-0! Auburn Tigers first faced California State Fullerton on September 2nd and won in 3 sets (22-25, 23-25, 21-25). The next day, they played against Southeastern Louisiana and, once again, they easily won in 3 (14-25, 10-25, 20-25). The senior middle blocker from Turkey had a consistent performance, helping her team with 3 kills and 4 blocks in total.
Next obligation:
9/9 vs North Alabama
Ada Bulgur
UTRGV volleyball participated in the Cowtown Classic the first week of September, and although the girls battled, they didn't manage to win any of the matches. Firstly, they played against UMBC in another Battle of the Turks, and they lost in 5 (18-25, 23024, 28-26, 25-14, 11-15) and that same afternoon they had a game against TCU which they ended up losing 3-0 (17-25, 17-25, 17-25). This long and exhausting day was followed by another long 5-set game against Nicholls (20-25, 19-25, 25-16, 25-22, 10-15). The sophomore from Turkey, Ada Bulgur, did not participate in the whole match, however, she managed to score 3 points (2 kills, I block solo) and 2 assists.
Next obligations:
Peyman Yardimci
The University of Miami finished the second week of the season undefeated with an overall record of 4-0. This time the Miami Hurricanes faced USF twice, one on Friday, September 3rd and one on Sunday, September 5th and won in 4 sets the first match (19-25, 18-25, 25-23, 15-25) and in 3 sets the second one (25-15, 25-23, 25-23). Freshman Peyman Yardimci had a good game in the first round with 6 kills, 2 blocks, and 8 digs, and she continued her first week’s strong performance on Sunday, leading her team’s kills with 15 points and 1 block.
Next obligations:
10/9 vs Texas State
11/9 vs Alabama