Super League round 14 preview – SideOut Polonia's Akin on the road to success

As Team Sideout Polonia’s starting setter and one of the MAAREE Women’s Super League’s most consistent players, the 24-year-old is well known for striving hard to be the best she can be. 

But what is less common knowledge is that, away from volleyball she has been a central figure in another team where drive is not just a metaphorical requisite for success, but a literal one. 

Using her skills in the field of mechanical engineering, a subject in which she has now graduated, she acted as Team Manager of University College London (UCL) Racing on an intriguing and innovate project... building a motor vehicle with the highest possible efficiency. 

The cutting edge UCL Hypermile has the capability to travel from London to Germany on just one bottle of hydrogen and, last year, was entered into the Shell Eco-Marathon competition, held in Armagnac, France.  

And while the machine – which has a top speed of no more than 30km  – did not win any on-track races, it did receive an award for having the lowest carbon footprint, technology that will one day hopefully significantly lower emissions and help the environment. 

For Merve, who is passionate about renewable energy and is now studying for a Masters in Environmental Technology with Energy Policy at Imperial College London (ICL), the urge to compete has been engrained in her psyche from a young age. 

Growing up in Turkey, she trained relentlessly in a bid to make it as a professional volleyball player – and those experiences have since stood her in good stead whether teeing up kills or developing technology of the future. 

“I joined UCL racing when I was doing my undergraduate degree there and we put together a prototype racing car that we took to France,” said Merve. 

“We competed against around 100 teams from all around the world and last year I stepped up to be the Team Manager. It’s a hydrogen-powered car and it doesn’t go very fast, but it went a very long way for the fuel it used. 

“To be in the car to drive you had to lie down and you couldn’t see much and you also had to be less than 160cm tall, so it was pretty hard to find a driver! 

“You had 30 minutes to race around the track and you had to complete at least 10 laps and then it was a case of seeing how much fuel you used, and our car was found to be very efficient. 

“I was really interested in going into motorsport for a long time, but I came to realise that the teams were all based quite far away from London, with the nearest in Milton Keynes, so I’ve given up on that idea as I want to stay in London and play volleyball here.

“I’m finishing my Masters at the moment and I’ve started to look around for a job, so hopefully I can stay here in the UK, but fate will decide.” 

It was fate that led Merve to come to London in the first place, having originally planned to study on a scholarship at Brown University in the US, or in Canada, so she could continue playing volleyball. 

It was then that Covid hit and such programmes for overseas students were cut back, meaning she had to reassess her options. 

She said: “Having realised I was not going to play professionally at the top level in Turkey, I was looking to go to North America, but things didn’t work out and I had pretty much given up on playing volleyball to a high standard. 

“I applied for universities and UCL was the only one I applied to for mechanical engineering – the others were for economics – so I ended up coming here... it was fate. 

“I didn’t even realise there was a decent level of volleyball being played here in the UK at first. When I first came to the UK, I only played with UCL. Our first season we were competing in the BUCS Division One, which was a much lower league than I had been competing in when in Turkey.

“But throughout the four years I played with UCL, we got promoted to the Premier League and got to compete against teams such as Nottingham, Essex and Durham, who were also playing in the NVL. I had a great time growing with this team.

“I then found out about the Super League by chance. I was with the UCL team at UEL and there were some Americans there training and they asked if I wanted to join in, so I did.

 “What I didn’t know was that it turned out to be a Malory (Eagles) training session and they asked me if I would like to play for them. 

“I went along at first, but the travelling got to be a bit too much, so I was looking for something closer and I eventually found out about Polonia. 

“When I joined everyone was so nice and over time I came to know what it meant to be part of the team and the squad.” 

While it was only natural for Merve to be active given her family background, it was more of a surprise that volleyball was her chosen sport. 

In the end, she swapped one indoor court for another, feeling it was a better fit for her size and stature. 

“I came from a sporty family – my mum was captain of the Turkish national basketball team – and she wanted me to play like her, but I really didn’t like the contact aspect of it,” said Merve. 

“But there was a volleyball club at the same club (Fenerbahçe) and I gave that a go instead. I started out as a libero – I was the smallest player of my team – and I have played that position for most of my career. 

“It was only when I came to England and UCL that I started to play as a setter. It was Krys (Kovalsky), Assistant Coach of Team SideOut and who was my first coach at UCL, who suggested it and I quite enjoyed it. 

“I took to it straight away, but at the same time it’s a different experience and I almost had to learn the game again, and how to be successful at it... it’s quite hard. 

“Good decision-making is key, not just being able to to set a good ball for someone to hit, but I was lucky that Mark (Kontopoulos (coach) was a setter so he could sympathise and let me grown into the role.” 

In the last couple of seasons, Merve has been a cornerstone for Team Sideout as she has found that the team’s ambitions match her own. 

They won the National Cup last season by beating Durham Palatinates in the final, but their old rivals got revenge a week later in the Final 4 Grand Final when they overturned a 2-1 deficit to win 3-2 and claim their third straight national title. 

For Merve, there was the frustration in that match of twisting her ankle and being sidelined, just as her team were in the ascendency. 

Whether her continued presence would have tipped the favour in Polonia’s balance will never now be known, but what is crystal clear is a steely determination to go one better this time. 

Merve said: “We are aiming to win both (the Super League and the National Cup), but I don’t think what happened last year is a major driver for us, we are just focusing on this year. We have been doing well for the last 15 years and that’s what we want to continue to do. 

“We have that winners’ mentality and every player here wants to win and work hard to do it – and that has been really refreshing for me. 

“It’s more fun when you win and this season has been a good one despite the injuries we have had, losing Sydney (Busa) to a nasty ACL injury and also Carla (Mulli) who was out for a few weeks with a twisted ankle. 

“Our captain Alara Yılmaz, our the libero, is someone I played against for rivals teams (Galatasaray v Fenerbahçe) back in Turkey. We have both been liberos since the age of 13 and we are now the best of friends.

“But everyone in the squad has stepped up and played their part. The depth that we have is what makes us so strong and there aren’t many if any teams can match it. 

“I’m very confident that we can win it (the Super League title) this year, and I think the main competition is ourselves. 

“When we play to the best of our ability then I don’t think many sides can match that level and there have been good signs that our levels have gone up as the season goes on." 

From an individual point of view, Merve could hardly have done more, playing in all 14 league games to date during which she has accrued 420 assists from 1,040 attempts, together with 24 aces, 19 kills, 11 blocks and 109 digs. 

Her focus now in on two more strong performances this weekend in a home double header against two sides at different ends of the table, with struggling University of Nottingham visiting on Saturday and Final 4-chasing Lionhearts Vinarius on Sunday. 

One win from either of their two games will see Polonia clinch their Final 4 place with more than a month-and-a-half of the regular season to go. 

“This season is the most fun I have had playing volleyball while in the UK – in fact, it’s probably the most fun I’ve had playing volleyball ever,” said Merve. 

“I didn’t realise it was the case that can qualify this weekend, but it would be good to get it done and I will be really excited to play in the Final 4 at Crystal Palace. 

“Nottingham have not had quite as good a season last year as last and we played against them last week, so we know what they are all about and if we let them build some momentum then they could be dangerous. 

“We played Lionhearts earlier in the season and though we won (3-2) they were a really strong blocking team and had 20 blocks, which is unheard of. It was tough for us ... I’m looking forward to overcoming that challenge this time."

This weekend sees the 2025 edition of the Student Cup Finals, a competition Merve played in and won with UCL last year. 

She relished that experience and says it will be fun for those competing at the University of East Anglia on Saturday and Sunday. 

 Merve said: “We stayed over in the university dorms and played some games and it has a festival feel to it. 

“It is a different feel to Super League, but you get some good players in all the teams who can play to a good level. 

“It’s a great chance to get out and meet people from the volleyball community and I’m sure it will be a great experience for all those who take part this year.” 

Polonia action images by Nathaniel Macrae.

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