Despite competing without Fernando Hernandez, o Panathinaikos walked away with a great victory 3-1 sets (25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 24-26) from his busy seat Olympiakoutaking the all-important first step in qualifying for his final CEV Cup!
The “red and whites” took a 1-0 lead, but then the “greens” showed character and celebrated the great victory with a great protagonist Kovar.
At 15/2 the rematch at the closed Agios Thomas, where Panathinaikos will qualify even if they lose 3-2.
The match
The first set started with the two teams going hand in hand on the score and with Stern, Kovar taking the reins of the attacks. Panathinaikos led by two points (13-11) for the first time in the match, after a violation by Travitsa, with Hidalgo reducing it to 13-14 and Sander missing for 14-14. Olympiacos ran a 3-0 run and went ahead 18-17, while 4 more consecutive points, the “red and white” led 24-19, finally making it 1-0 in the set (25-21).
The Greens took a 3-1 lead early in the second set, with Stern tying the game at 3-3. Stern overcame the block, giving Olympiakos a two-point lead, which led 14-11, but the Greens fought back to tie the game at 16-16 with Stern. Kovar caught fire at the end of the set and with 4 consecutive points of his own made it 19-22, with Panathinaikos winning 25-21 and tying the score at 1-1.
Olympiacos came out strong in the third set and took a 6-3 lead, but the visitors leveled at 8-8 as the teams continued with neither able to escape. The home team entered the final stretch with Stern making it 20-19, but Kovar and Sander spoke when the ball was… burning for 23-25 and 1-2 in sets!
The “red and white” had to take risks in the fourth set, playing with their backs against the wall. They took a 5-2 lead after Rangel’s red card and kept their good momentum going until Stern made it 10-6. At that point in the match, Panathinaikos fought back again, cutting it to 11-10 on a block by Rangel, ending their 8-1 run to go ahead 14-11. Olympiacos equalized with an ace by Pageng and the game went point-to-point, before the outstanding Kovar scored the last two points for his team, for 26-24 and 3-1 in the set!
The sets: 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 23-25, 24-26)
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