Halkbank continued its winning streak in the Turkish Efeler League. The team led by Radostin Stoychev won its away match against Altekma in Izmir with3:0 (25:20, 25:12, 25:22)in a third-round match. Bulgarian international Denislav Bardarov finished with 11 points and played a key role in the final rallies.
At 23:21 for the visitors in the third set, Bardarov made a successful attack and secured three match points for Halkbank. A service error from the visitors followed, but at 22:24, the hosts also made a service error and the match concluded.
The Bulgarian outside hitter played another strong match, scoring 10 points from attack in 18 attempts (56% success rate) and adding one block. In reception, Bardarov finished with 50% positive reception from 10 serves directed at him.

Halkbank's decisive superiority came from blocking. The visitors recorded an impressive 13 successful blocks against only two for Altekma. Eight of them were made by middle blocker Ahmet Samet Baltacı, who finished the match with 10 points.
The most effective player for the winners was Brazilian opposite Darlan Ferreira with 12 points, and captain Matey Kaziyski added 10. The Bulgarian star made eight successful attacks from 17 attempts, one block, and one ace. Kaziyski also finished with 60% positive reception.
For the hosts, the most effective player with 11 points was Canadian outside hitter Jackson Young, who last season was a teammate of Bulgarian international Alex Grozdanov in the Polish vice-champion Bogdanka LUK Lublin.
Interestingly, Altekma had a minimal advantage in attack points (34:33) and recorded more aces (6:2), but could not compensate for the huge difference in blocking.
After a relatively even first set, Halkbank dominated the second, winning it decisively 25:12. The hosts put up more serious resistance in the third set, maintaining equality until 14:14. After that, the visitors managed to pull away in the score and did not allow the opponent to get back into the fight for the set. The match ended in 87 minutes.
This is Halkbank's third consecutive victory since the start of the championship. Radostin Stoychev's team has eight points after successes against Galatasaray with 3:1, Spor Toto with 3:2, and Altekma with 3:0.
In the next round, on October 31, Halkbank will host newcomer Onikişubat.