Zehra Gunes is a Turkish professional volleyball player, who plays in the middle blocker position for Vakıfbank Istanbul and the Turkey women’s national volleyball team. She was awarded the MVP at the MVP at the Turkish Kadinlar Voleybol Ligi in 2021/2022, the Best blocker at the Tokyo 202 Olympics, as well as Best middle-blocker at the Club World Championship 2023/2024 and 2022/2023, Volleyball Nations League 2023, and European Championships 2023. Zehra Gunes is one of the top volleyball players in Turkey. With the national team, she is a gold medalist in the 2017 Ljubljana Women’s U23 World Championship, the 2023 Arlington FIVB Nations League, the 2023 Belgium/Estonia/Germany/Italy European Championships, and the 2023 Tokyo FIVB World Cup.
Zehra Gunes was born on July 7, 1999, in Kartal, Istanbul, Turkey. She started in volleyball as a kid and showed great talent and skills. She started playing for Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediyesi Spor Kulubu but was quickly discovered by the scouts of the Vakifbank volleyball team, where developed her skills and spent most of her career.
Zehra Gunes started her career in 2014, playing for Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediyesi Spor Kulubu at the Turkish Kadinlar Voleybol 1 Ligi. Although quite young, she was called for the Turkish national volleyball team for the World Championships U21, Women World Championships U19, and European Championships U18 in 2015, as well as the European Youth Olympic Festival, where the team won the gold medals and she was awarded Best middle-blocker.
In the next season, she signed with Vakifbank and played for the Vakifbank II to gain experience at the Turkish Kadinlar Voleybol 2 Ligi. The team finished second in the league, while with the national team, she played at the European Championships U19, where finished third, and Yeltsin Cup.
In 2016, Zehra Gunes moved to Besiktas in the Turkish elite, where she played for only one season. Although her volleyball club did not perform strong in the league, with the national team she won the title at the World Championships U23 in Ljubljana.
In 2017, Zehra Gunes returned to her club Vakifbank, where is actually still playing. In her maiden season with the club, she won the Turkish Supercup, Turkish Cup, Turkish Kadinlar Voleybol Ligi, Champions League, and Club World Championship, while with the national team, she earned the silver at the Volleyball Nations League and the bronze at the Montreux Volley Masters. Although the Turkish national team finished 4th at the World Championships U21, Zehra Gunes was awarded the Best blocker and the Best middle-blocker of the tournament.
In 2018/2019, the dominance of Vakifbank continued as the team won the Club World Championship and Turkish Kadinlar Voleybol Ligi, but finished third at the Champions League and Turkish Cup. In 2019, Zehra Gunes continued playing on the top level for the national team as well, winning the silver at the European Championships
In the next season, the coronavirus pandemic seriously affected the competitions worldwide and most of the leagues were canceled, but Zehra Gunes and Vakifbank succeeded to win the bronze at the Club World Championship, where she was awarded the Best Blocker and the Best Middle-blocker.
In the 2020/2021 season, Zehra Gunes helped Turkey to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where finished 5th and she was awarded the Best blocker. With the national team, she also won the bronze at the Volleyball Nations League and European Championships, while with her club won the Turkish Cup, where was awarded MVP, and the Turkish Kadinlar Voleybol Ligi, as well as finished as a runner-up at the Champions League.
Zehra Gunes and Vakifbank had another fantastic season in 2021/2022 season, winning the Turkish Supercup, Turkish Cup, Turkish Kadinlar Voleybol Ligi, Club World Championship, and Champions League, where she was awarded the Best middle-blocker. The Turkish national team finished 4th in the Volleyball Nations League and 8th at the World Championships but won the silver at the USA Volleyball Cup in 2022.
In 2022/2023, Vakifbank defended their Champions League and Turkish Cup titles, but finished second at the Club World Championship and third at the Turkish Kadinlar Voleybol Ligi. However, Zehra Gunes had a quite successful season with the national team, winning the gold at the Volleyball Nations League 2023 and European Championships 2023.
During the next season, Zehra Gunes led the Turkish national team to the Paris 2024 Olympics, where they were close to earning the medal, but finished 4th. With Vakifbank her season was not very successful as well, finishing 5th in the Champions League and third in the Turkish Kadinlar Voleybol Ligi. However, they won the Turkish Supercup and finished second at the Club World Championship.
Zehra Gunes photos
