Turkey women's national volleyball team

This article is about women's national volleyball team. For men's, see Turkey men's national volleyball team.

The Turkey women's national volleyball team (Turkish: Türkiye Kadın Voleybol Milli Takımı) is formed by the Turkish Volleyball Federation (TVF) and represents Turkey in international CEV and FIVB organizations.

Turkey

Nickname(s)	Sultans of the Net
Association	Turkish Volleyball Federation
Confederation	CEV
Head coach	Daniele Santarelli[1]
FIVB ranking	4 (as of 8 January 2025)
Uniforms
Home Away
Summer Olympics
Appearances	3 (First in 2012)
Best result	4th (2024)
World Championship
Appearances	5 (First in 2006)
Best result	6th (2010)
World Cup
Appearances	1 (First in 2003)
Best result	7th (2003)
European Championship
Appearances	16 (First in 1963)
Best result	(2023)
tvf.org.tr
Honours FIVB Nations League 2023 Arlington Team 2018 Nanjing Team 2021 Rimini Team FIVB World Grand Prix 2012 Ningbo Team European Championship 2023 Belgium-Estonia-Germany-Italy 2003 Turkey 2019 Slovakia-Hungary-Poland-Turkey 2011 Serbia-Italy 2017 Azerbaijan-Georgia 2021 Serbia-Bulgaria-Croatia-Romania European Games 2015 Azerbaijan Team European League 2014 Rüsselsheim 2009 Kayseri 2011 Istanbul 2015 No Host 2010 Ankara Montreux Volley Masters 2015 Montreux 2016 Montreux 2018 Montreux Mediterranean Games 2005 Spain Team 1987 Syria Team 1991 Greece Team 1997 Italy Team 2001 Tunisia Team 2009 Italy Team 2013 Turkey Team 2022 Algeria Team 1975 Algeria Team 1993 France Team 2018 Spain Team Islamic Solidarity Games 2021 Konya Team 2017 Baku Team

Turkey against France EVC 2009 Poland

Turkey won the European Games in 2015

The team is the most successful national sports team in the country and has been nicknamed "Filenin Sultanları"^[2] (English: Sultans of the Net) since the 2003 Women's European Volleyball Championship hosted in Ankara, Turkey. It is ranked fourth in the FIVB World Rankings as of 8 January 2025. Daniele Santarelli is the head coach of the team.^[1]

History

Sabiha Gürayman was the first Turkish woman to engage in the game of volleyball, which was introduced in Turkey in the 1910s. As a young woman Gürayman founded and played for the Fenerbahçe women's volleyball team, having previously played in the men's team of that club. Turkish women's volleyball has undergone a rapid transformation since the 2000s, achieving many successes at both club and national level.

The team became the first women's volleyball team to score a perfect season by winning 22 consecutive games between June 29 and September 24 in 2023.^[3] In that period, it completed the final stage of the Nations League, European Championship and Olympic Qualification Round.

Due to the national team's recent successes, particularly since the 2019 summer season, women's volleyball has surged in popularity and is now among the most widely followed sports in Turkey.

Achievements

Summer Olympics

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place

Summer Olympics record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	L	SW	SL	Squad
1964	did not qualify
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012	Preliminary round	9th place	5	2	3	9	11	Squad
2016	did not qualify
2020	Quarterfinals	5th place	6	3	3	14	11	Squad
2024	Semifinals	4th place	6	3	3	10	14	Squad
2028	future events
Total	0 titles	3/16	17	8	9	33	36

World Championship

Year	Position	W	L
2006[4]	10th	5	6
2010[5]	6th	6	5
2014	9th	5	4
2018	10th	5	4
2022	8th	6	4
2025	qualified
Total	5/19	27	23

FIVB World Cup

Year	Position	W	L
2003[6]	7th	5	6

World Grand Prix

Year	Position	W	L
2008	7th	4	5
2012		10	4
2013	8th	6	3
2014	4th	8	6
2015	11th	2	7
2016	10th	3	6
2017	11th	2	7
Total	7/25	35	38

Nations League

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	L	SW	SL	Squad
2018	Final Round		15	10	5	35	23	Squad
2019	Final Round	4th	19	13	6	43	25	Squad
2021	Final Round		17	12	5	40	24	Squad
2022	Final Round	4th	15	8	7	31	25	Squad
2023	Final Round		15	12	3	40	13	Squad
2024	Final Round	6th	13	8	5	31	21	Squad
2025	Final Round	6th	13	8	5	30	20	Squad
Total	7/7		107	71	36	250	151

Mediterranean Games

Year	Position
1975
1979	4th
1983	5th
1987
1991
1993
1997
2001
2005
2009
2013
2018
2022
2026
Total	13/13

European Championship

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
1963	Round Robin	10th	6	3	3	9	10
1967	Round Robin	12th	8	3	5	16	19
1981[7]	Final Round	12th	8	0	8	1	23
1989[8]	Final Round	11th	7	2	5	8	17
1995[9]	Preliminary Round	12th	5	0	5	2	15
2003[10]	Final		7	5	2	17	6
2005[11]	Final Round	6th	7	3	4	11	12
2007[12]	Playoff Round	10th	6	2	4	6	20
2009[13]	Playoff Round	5th	6	4	2	14	8
2011[14]	Semifinal		7	5	2	17	11
2013	Quarter Final	7th	5	3	2	9	8
2015	Semifinal	4th	6	4	2	12	8
2017	Semifinal		7	4	3	15	12
2019[15]	Final		9	7	2	24	12
2021	Semifinal		9	8	1	25	5
2023	Final		9	9	0	27	6
2026
Total	Qualified: 16/33		112	62	50	213	192

European Games

Year	Position	W	L
2015		7	1
Total	1/1	7	1

European League

Year	Position	W	L
2009		11	3
2010		10	5
2011		11	3
2012	8th	5	7
2013	6th	6	6
2014		11	3
2015		11	3
Total	7/12	65	30

Montreux Volley Masters

Year	Position	W	L
2007	6th	2	3
2015		4	1
2016		3	2
2018		4	1
2019	5th	3	1
Total	5/34	16	8

Islamic Solidarity Games

Year	Position	W	L
2017		3	2
2021		4	0
Total	2/2	7	2

Team

Current squad

Roster for the 2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship.

• Head coach: Daniele Santarelli
• Asst. coach: Andrea Zotta

No.	Pos.	Player	Birth date and age	Height (cm)	Block (cm)	Spike (cm)
01	L	Gizem Örge	(1993-04-26) 26 April 1993 (age 32)	173	263	270
03	S	Cansu Özbay	(1996-10-17) 17 October 1996 (age 28)	179	294	299
04	OP	Melissa Vargas	(1999-10-16) 16 October 1999 (age 25)	194	315	325
07	OH	Hande Baladın	(1997-09-01) 1 September 1997 (age 27)	187	304	310
08	MB	Sinead Jack Kısal	(1993-11-08) 8 November 1993 (age 31)	195	304	310
11	OH	Derya Cebecioğlu	(2000-10-24) 24 October 2000 (age 24)	181	303	308
12	S	Elif Şahin	(2001-01-19) 19 January 2001 (age 24)	184	302	306
14	MB	Eda Erdem (C)	(1987-06-22) 22 June 1987 (age 38)	188	304	313
18	MB	Zehra Güneş	(1999-07-07) 7 July 1999 (age 26)	198	312	318
19	MB	Aslı Kalaç	(1995-12-13) 13 December 1995 (age 29)	185	302	309
20	OH	Yaprak Erkek	(2001-09-02) 2 September 2001 (age 23)	182	300	306
22	OH	İlkin Aydın	(2000-01-05) 5 January 2000 (age 25)	179	298	304
23	L	Eylül Yatgın	(1999-10-01) 1 October 1999 (age 25)	170	270	285
99	OH	Ebrar Karakurt	(2000-01-17) 17 January 2000 (age 25)	195	315	325

Former squads

• 2003 European Championship — Silver Medal

  Bahar Mert, Esra Gümüş, Sinem Akap, Özlem Özçelik, Aysun Özbek, Natalia Hanikoğlu, Mesude Kuyan, Pelin Çelik, Çiğdem Can, Gülden Kayalar, Seda Tokatlıoğlu and Neslihan Darnel. Head coach: Reşat Yazıcıoğulları.

• 2009 European League — Silver Medal

  İpek Soroğlu, Pelin Çelik, Neslihan Darnel, Nihan Yeldan, Seda Tokatlıoğlu, Deniz Hakyemez, Naz Aydemir, Esra Gümüş, Eda Erdem, Duygu Bal, Gözde Kırdar and Gülden Kayalar Head coach: Alessandro Chiappini.

• 2011 European Championship — Bronze Medal

  Asuman Karakoyun, Gözde Kırdar Sonsırma, Gizem Güreşen, Elif Onur, Ergül Avcı, Polen Uslupehlivan, Bahar Toksoy, Güldeniz Önal, Naz Aydemir, Esra Gümüş, Neriman Özsoy, Eda Erdem, Neşve Büyükbayram, Selime İlyasoğlu, Neslihan Darnel, Özge Kırdar Çemberci and Ceren Kestirengöz. Head coach: Marco Aurelio Motta.

• 2012 FIVB World Grand Prix — Bronze Medal

  Gülden Kayalar Kuzubaşıoğlu, Gözde Kırdar Sonsırma, Gizem Güreşen, Ergül Avcı, Bahar Toksoy, Güldeniz Önal, Naz Aydemir, Esra Gümüş, Neriman Özsoy, Eda Erdem, Neslihan Darnel and Nilay Özdemir. Head coach: Marco Aurelio Motta.

• 2014 European League — Gold Medal

  Ezgi Dilik, Kübra Akman, Ceylan Arısan, Bihter Dumanoğlu, Polen Uslupehlivan, Yeliz Başa, Hatice Gizem Örge, Cansu Çetin, Gözde Yılmaz, Meliha İsmailoğlu, Çağla Akın and Özgenur Yurtdagülen. Head coach: Ferhat Akbaş.

• 2015 Montreux Volley Masters — Gold Medal

  Seniye Merve Dalbeler, Gizem Karadayı, Dicle Nur Babat, Kübra Akman, Polen Uslupehlivan, Seda Aslanyürek, Büşra Cansu, Güldeniz Önal Paşalıoğlu (C), Naz Aydemir Akyol, Neriman Özsoy, Gözde Yılmaz, Meliha İsmailoğlu, Aslı Kalaç, Çağla Akın and Ezgi Dağdelenler. Head coach: Ferhat Akbaş.

• 2015 European Games — Gold Medal

  Seniye Merve Dalbeler, Gizem Karadayı, Dicle Nur Babat, Kübra Akman, Polen Uslupehlivan, Seda Aslanyürek, Büşra Cansu, Güldeniz Önal Paşalıoğlu (C), Naz Aydemir Akyol, Neriman Özsoy, Gözde Yılmaz, Meliha İsmailoğlu, Aslı Kalaç and Çağla Akın. Head coach: Ferhat Akbaş.

• 2015 European League — Silver Medal

  Melike Yılmaz, Birgül Güler, Buse Kayacan, Fatma Yıldırım, Ceren Kestirengöz, Ezgi Dilik, Ezgi Dağdelenler, Meryem Boz, Ayşe Melis Gürkaynak, Damla Çakıroğlu, Cansu Aydunoğulları, Serpil Ersarı. Head coach: Ismail Yengil.

• 2023 FIVB Volleyball Nations League — Gold Medal

  Gizem Örge, Simge Şebnem Aköz, Cansu Özbay, Melissa Vargas, Ayça Aykaç, Kübra Akman, Hande Baladın, Yasemin Güveli, Meliha Diken, Derya Cebecioğlu, Elif Şahin, Eda Erdem (C), Saliha Şahin, Zehra Güneş, Aslı Kalaç, İlkin Aydın, Ebrar Karakurt. Head coach: Daniele Santarelli.

• 2023 European Championship — Gold Medal

  Gizem Örge, Simge Şebnem Aköz, Cansu Özbay, Melissa Vargas, Ayça Aykaç, Kübra Akman, Hande Baladın, Derya Cebecioğlu, Elif Şahin, Eda Erdem (C), Zehra Güneş, Aslı Kalaç, İlkin Aydın, Ebrar Karakurt. Head coach: Daniele Santarelli.

• 2024 Summer Olympics — 4th place

  Gizem Örge, Cansu Özbay, Melissa Vargas, Hande Baladın, Meliha Diken, Derya Cebecioğlu, Elif Şahin, Eda Erdem Dündar, Zehra Güneş, Aslı Kalaç, İlkin Aydın, Ebrar Karakurt. Head coach: Daniele Santarelli.

See also

• • Women's
• Turkey Women's national volleyball team U23
• Turkey Women's national volleyball team U20
• Turkey Women's national volleyball team U18
  • Men's
• Turkey Men's national volleyball team
• Turkey Men's national volleyball team U23
• Turkey Men's national volleyball team U21
• Turkey Men's national volleyball team U19