VakifBank continue winning ways under Italian coach Giovanni Guidetti

By Ercan Cakar

ISTANBUL (AA) - The 2022 CEV Women's Champions League volleyball winner, VakifBank, continued their winning ways under the leadership of their Italian head coach Giovanni Guidetti.

The Istanbul team added a new title to their trophy cabinet Sunday after they beat Italian club Carraro Imoco Conegliano 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 25-21) in the CEV Champions League final.

Guidetti, 49, who completed his 14th season in Turkiye, including the 2019-20 season that was dissolved because of the coronavirus pandemic, helped VakifBank win several international and local titles.

The club won 25 titles during the Guidetti era, including four FIVB Women's Club World Championship, five CEV Champions League, seven Turkish league titles, five Turkish Cups, and four Turkish Super Cups.

VakifBank has won 36 titles in their history since it was founded in 1986.

Guidetti started his career with Volley 2000 Spezzano in Italy.

He coached Vicenza, Reggio Emilia, Modena, and Chieri while in Italy.

Then he served as the head coach for the Bulgarian, German, and Dutch national teams.

Guidetti has been the coach of the Turkish women's national team since 2017 and VakifBank since the 2008-09 season.

He is married to Bahar Toksoy Guidetti, a 34-year-old Turkish volleyball player with Turk Hava Yollari SK.

Bahar Toksoy plays for the Turkish national team.

- Most titles in Club World Championship, Champions League

Guidetti has the most head coach titles in the FIVB Club World Championship and CEV Champions League.

VakifBank has won four Club World Championship titles and five CEV Champions League championships since 2001 under its new format.

- Turkish national team career

Guidetti has had remarkable success with the Turkish national team since taking the helm.

Called the Sultans of the Net, Turkiye were bronze medalists in the 2021 FIVB Women's Nations League and won a silver medal in the 2019 European Championship.

The team was third in the 2017 and 2021 European Championships and ended the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the fifth spot.

*Writing by Can Erozden