Sultanbeyli, with Bulgarian Branimir Grozdanov in the squad, continues without a win in the Turkish Efeler League. In a match from the third round, the team from Istanbul lost at home to Gebze with 0:3 (17:25, 18:25, 22:25) after 87 minutes of play.
Grozdanov started as a starter in the first set, remained on the court in the second set, but did not appear in the third. The Bulgarian finished with 3 points, scored from attack from four attempts (75% success rate). In reception, however, he had serious difficulties, making three errors from four serves directed at him.
The most effective player for the hosts with 12 points was the Croatian opposite Petar Dirlic, who in the 2024/25 season was a teammate of Aleksandar Nikolov in the Italian Lube Civitanova. Dirlic finished with 10 successful attacks, one ace, and one block.
The guests from Gebze relied on the strong performance of Czech international Marek Sotola, who scored 13 points. The opposite distinguished himself with four aces and nine successful attacks from 12 attempts, achieving a 75% success rate.
Finnish international Luka Marttila also made a significant contribution to the victory, finishing with 10 points, eight of which were from attack and two blocks. The outside hitter is a bronze medalist from the European Championship in September 2026, when Finland won its first medal in its history from a continental championship. Last season, Marttila was a teammate of Bulgarian internationals Zhasmin Velichkov and Martin Atanasov in Italian Monza.
Another interesting detail is the presence in the Gebze squad of two volleyball players who left their mark in the Bulgarian championship.
One is the opposite from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Adi Osmanovic, who in the 2025/26 season wore the jersey of Neftochimic 2010 (Burgas). Osmanovic appeared as a substitute in the first set but did not score a point.
The other is the Moldovan outside hitter with a Bulgarian passport, Dmitry Bahov, who has two Bulgarian championship titles with Marek Union-Ivkooni (Dupnitsa), as well as a National Cup. Bahov did not participate in today's match.
Gebze had the initiative for almost the entire match. The guests convincingly won the first two sets, and in the third set, the hosts put up more serious resistance but again lost - 22:25.
The guests had a clear advantage from the serve. Sotola scored four aces, Gökhan Gökgöz added three, and Akyut Acar - two. For the hosts, only Petar Dirlic and Emre Berat Fırat recorded a point directly from a serve.
This was Gebze's third consecutive victory since the start of the championship, after the team had already overcome Onikişubat with 3:1 and Sungurlu with 3:0.
For Sultanbeyli, this is the third loss in three matches. The team started the season with a forfeit defeat against Alanya, then dramatically lost to Istanbul BB with 2:3, and now failed to win a set against Gebze.
photo: Anadolu Agency
