Dila Derendeli '23 Recruiting Profile

My name is Elif Dila Derendeli and I’m from Bursa, Turkey. I’m class of 2023 and I’m 5’11 outside hitter. Before I started volleyball, I was swimming for two years.

I’ve been playing volleyball since 2014 and started at Bursa Eczacıbaşı SC. After 6 months I joined Bursa Elementary School Tournament and got 3^rd place. This tournament showed me that I should be part of volleyball and try my best to be successful. With the 3^rd place, I achieved my first goal which is to get a scholarship from a middle school and I got a 100% scholarship.

In 2015, I was playing for Bursa Eczacıbaşı SC and Tan Middle School Volleyball Team.  We joined Bursa Middle School Tournament, Bursa U13 Club Tournament, and U15 Club Tournament. These tournaments experienced me. End of the season, I went to Uludağ Volleyball Camp and learned to control my breathing during games and what is the real team means.

 With 2016, I started to join almost every tournament in Bursa. The tournaments that I joined in 2016 are; Bursa Middle School Tournament (2^nd place), Turkey Middle School Championship Group Elimination (1^st place) and Quarter-Finals, Bursa U13 and Bursa 15 Club Tournaments, Nilüfer Belediye Volleyball Tournament (3^rd place), İstanbul Eczacıbaşı Tournament (1^st place) and Turkey U13 Club Championship Group Elimination (1^st place), Quarter-Finals (1^st place), Semi-Finals (2^nd place), Final Group (3^rd place). With these achievements, I selected as the Honor Student of the year. Also, I went to the Uludağ Volleyball Camp again because in 2015 this camp helped me to improve my skills and learn new things about myself.

In 2017 I accompanied Bursa Middle School Tournament (2^nd place), Turkey Middle School Championship Group Elimination (1^st), Quarter-Finals (2^nd place) and Semi-Finals, Bursa U15 Tournament (3^rd place), Bursa U17 and Bursa U19 Tournaments, Nilüfer Belediye Volleyball Tournament (1^st place) and İstanbul ES Volleyball Tournament (1^st place). End of the year, I selected as Honor Student of the year and transferred to Nilüfer Belediye SC.

2018 is full of tournaments and studying. In 8^th grade, there is an exam.  Every 8th-grade student must join this exam because it affects our high school. The most selective schools only choose between 0,1% to 10,0%. I got in 5,6% while I was going to different cities for tournaments and local tournaments. I joined Bursa Middle School Tournament (1^st place), Turkey Middle School Championship Group elimination (1^st place), Quarter-Finals (1^st place), Semi-Finals (1^st place) and Final Group, Bursa U15 and Bursa U17 Club Tournaments (1^st place), Bursa U19 Club Tournament, Turkey U15 Club Championship Group Elimination (1^st place) and Quarter-finals, Turkey U17 Club Championship Group Elimination (2^nd place) and Quarter-Finals. Also, in Spring Break I went to Turkish National Camp. With my school and volleyball success, I selected as the Honor Student of the year for the 3^rd time in 3 years. End of the season, İstanbul Eczacıbaşı SC call me to join the Volleyball Camp. They decided to transfer me but, there are some issues about school scholarship. There is already a school in Bursa that was giving me a 100% sports scholarship. Then I decided to stay in Bursa for school. This high school’s name was TED Bursa High School with great opportunities such as English education in all lessons, an amazing sports hall, an academic level, and the most important thing is supportive of student-athletes.

In 2019, I started my English Prep year which helped me to improve my English and learn the English terms of different subjects. This year I joined Bursa High School Tournament (1^st place), Bursa U15 and Bursa U17 Club Tournament (1^st place), Bursa U19 Club Tournament, Turkey U15 Championship Group Elimination (2^nd place) and Quarter-Finals. End of the year, I went to Istanbul Fenerbahçe Volleyball Camp and Istanbul Galatasaray Volleyball Camp. In these camps, I improve my volleyball skills. After that, Bursa Nova SC call me for the club transfer. I decided to evaluate the chance and went there for the Turkish Volleyball Federation’s Women’s Volleyball 2^nd League.

The beginning of 2020 offered me great opportunities. I started playing professionally in Nova SC and at the end of my freshman year, I’m going to start the IB program. However, the 2020 season canceled but before the quarantine, I joined some tournaments; Bursa High School Tournament (2^nd place), Turkey High School Championship Quarter-Finals, Bursa U17, and Bursa U19 Club Tournaments and Turkish Volleyball Federation’s Women’s Volleyball 2^nd League (7^th place).

In my free time, I’m making ceramics which I take lessons in my 7^th and 8^th grade, writing articles for TEDESKOP Journal (High School Journal), giving presentations for high schools, prepare exhibits about national holidays such as 29 November (Republic Day of Turkey) and take part in exhibits.

Now, I’m searching for the level which helps me to improve myself and best for my academic and volleyball career. I’ve learned to be disciplined, hardworking, and never give up on something.

Thank you for your time!