Sports Desk- ACC Volleyball Action

It was a very busy weekend for the ACC, but while most people were paying to the football games in the conference, many women's volleyball games were played as well as all 12 current ACC members were in action.

I had the chance to see two of the games, including UNC's win over Wake Forest on the road (28-30, 29-27, 27-25, 25-22) and Virginia Tech's home win in a highly competitive five-match game over Clemson (25-22, 13-25, 14-25, 25-19, 15-11).

ACC volleyball got my attention late in the season last year when I noticed there was a Turkish player at Florida State. As a Turkish-American, I was aware that volleyball was a popular sport among female athletes in Turkey, but I didn't realize just how many volleyball players from Turkey were playing in the NCAA.

In the ACC, on current rosters, there are eight such players, including Duygu Duzceler and Fatma Yildirim (Florida State), Serenat Yaz and Cansu Ozdemir (Clemson, team image is above), Ece Taner of UNC and Cagla Sen of Boston College.

And, as it turns out Liz Trinchere of Virginia Tech went to my high school in the Roanoke, Va., area.

In weekend action, the UNC Tarheels won a road game over Wake Forest 3-1 (28-30, 29-27, 27-25, 25-22) on Friday as each of the four sets in the match were nail-biters. The 'Heels are now 17-5 (9-2 in ACC play).

And, in Blacksburg, Va., on Sunday, the home-court Virginia Tech Hokies a highly competitive full five-set match over the Clemson Tigers by a score of 3-2 (25-22, 13-25, 14-25, 25-19, 15-11); the Hokies go to 13-9 (6-5 in the ACC) and Clemson now has a record of 14-8 (6-5 in the ACC).

During Friday's game in Winston-Salem, NC, Kaylie Gibson of the 'Heels scored 24 digs and her teammate Emily McGee, a former ACC Player of the Week, had her seventh double-double of the season.

For the home Demon Deacons, Dani Thompson scored 14 digs and Andrea Beck added 14 kills. The game included a breast cancer fund-raiser which raised over $5,600.

During Sunday's game at Virginia Tech, the Hokies won a third straight five-set victory. Three Hokies scored double-doubles, including Cara Baarendse (with 13 kills), Justine Record and Jordan Fish.

For the Tigers, the aforementioned Serenat Yaz was one of three players with double-doubles along with Mo Simmons and Hannah Brenner.

Here is a complete list of ACC scores from Friday to Sunday:

Friday:

Clemson 3 UVA 1
Florida State 3 Maryland 1
Va. Tech 3 Ga. Tech 2
UNC 3 Wake Forest 1
Duke 3 NC St. 0
Miami (Fl) 3 Boston College 1

Saturday:

Ga. Tech 3 UVa 1

Sunday:

Va. Tech 3 Clemson 2
Florida State 3 Boston College 0
Miami (Fl) 3 Maryland 1

Sidebar: On a more serious note, the Turkish-American Washington DC-based group ATAA has set up a relief fund for victims of the earthquake in the eastern city of Van:

Turkish Philantropy Funds
Re: Van Earthquake Relief Fund
216 E. 45th Street, 7th Floor
NY, NY 10017

I expect there will be a segment about the devastation on the NPR talk show "The World," which examines evolving stories from around the globe.

Special Coverage- Devastating Earthquake in Turkey

As of 8:30 p.m., New York Time (4:30 a.m., Istanbul time), there are 137 confirmed dead as the result of a devastating earthquake in the province of Van which occured at 6:41 a.m., New York time (1:41 p.m., Istanbul time; the same time as Van).

But, the reports from two of Turkey's most-read newspapers "Hurriyet" and "Zaman" are far more devastating as the competing publications are both stating that there could be up to 1,000 dead in the region.

The earthquake registered 7.2 on the Richter Scale, and tens of thousands of residents in the area are homeless. Many are also without water and electricity. The cities of Van and Ercis were among the most affected. The province of Van borders Iran.

"The Huffington Post" reported that the earthquake was felt in both Iran and Armenia. The Van province is an area of ethnic hostility as it is claimed by both Kurds and Armenians around the world, and sadly many Internet posters, Turkish, Kurdish and Armenian alike are already posting comments with highly inappropriate comments regarding ethnic politics as children are being pulled from the rubble.

According to Hurriyet, Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew to Van. Earthquake politics have played a significant role in past earthquakes as the late Bulent Ecevit, who served as both president and prime minister of Turkey during his life, suffered major political setbacks for his alleged mishandling of the 1999 earthquake near Istanbul which killed some 20,000 people.

"Zaman" said the earthquake was also felt in the provinces of Batman, Hakkari and Diyarbakir. The BBC has confirmed (as of 9:00 p.m. New York time) that the city of Ercis has suffered the most casulaties so far. The BBC is also reporting that Turkey is so far surprisingly not asking for international aid, which would be a shocking misjudgment in my view.

The BBC is also reporting that at least 80 buildings have collapsed in the Van province. The city of Van, which is a fairly large city though the surrounding area consists of village dwellings, is some 28 hours away from Istanbul by bus.

Hakki Erskoy of the Turkish Red Crescent told the BBC that aid teams have been sent in from throughout Turkey.

"Hurriyet" reported that Israel, which has been having diplomatic squabbles with Turkey, over last year's Blue Marmara Raid Fiasco, was among the countries offering foreign aid.

President Barack Obama said: "We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Turkish ally in this difficult time."

The English language web site for The Turkish Red Crescent is (www.kizilay.org.tr/english).