PAOK “kept” its seat in the match with Olympiakos and brought the finals to a draw!

PAOK emerged victorious in an unlikely match, winning 3-2 sets against Olympiakos and tying the Volley League finals series at 1-1.

The “two-headed” took the first set in the details, with the “red and white” responding in the second exciting set for 1-1, while PAOK appeared sweeping in the third set and made it 2-1. Although the home team dominated most of the fourth set, Olympiacos turned up the pace in the final, going on a 9-1 run to send the match into a tiebreak, which was decided on details with PAOK victorious.

The third match of the series of finals will be held next Tuesday (25/4) at Rentis’ indoor stadium.

Strong serves dominated the beginning of the first set. PAOK took a slight lead, with Olympiacos equalizing for the first time at 15-15. With a series of three points he took the lead for the first time after an hour at 19-17.

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Olympiacos stayed at +2 until 20-18, with PAOK equalizing with an attack by Raptis and an ace by Voulkidis. An attack by Stern and a single block by Koumendakis sent Olympiakos back to +2 (20-22), but Van Den Dries stopped him and Skridov equalized again for PAOK at 22-22.

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The home team again found their backs against the wall, after an attack by Payenk and an error by Skridov led Olympiakos to the bowl set (22-24), but they turned the tables with a run of four points (two by Van Den Dries, one by Walsh and an ace by Rapti) for the 1-0 set with 26-24.

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The two teams went hand in hand for most of the second set, which was also decided in the details. PAOK took a small lead 12-10 and stayed ahead until 14-13, with Olympiacos holding a one-point lead until 19-18. The two teams were consumed by easy errors, characteristically counting six consecutive wrong serves (three each).

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PAOK equalized with a double block by Koumendakis, but the “red and white” immediately regained the lead and escaped to +2 (20-22) after a mis-serve by Raptis and an ace by Koumendakis. They then extended their lead (21-24) and maintained control, ending the set on a Walsh service error.

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PAOK entered the third set strongly and completely dominated, taking a lead that quickly reached six points (14-8). With Hidalgo on serve, Olympiacos dropped to 14-12, but Van De Dries stopped the Cuban’s streak and kept PAOK’s safety lead (15-12).

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A 6-1 split led the doubleheader to 23-15, with Payenk stopping it. With a wrong serve by the Slovenian, the home team reached the set bowl. Olympiacos responded with a tap by Koumendakis and a block out by Hidalgo, but PAOK took the set 2-1 with a wrong serve by Stern.

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With an incredible reversal, Olympiacos tied in the fourth set. PAOK was sweeping for most of the set, holding a lead of 3-4 points until 20-16, while the difference had reached +6 (15-9).

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The “red and white” responded with a series of points with Hidalgo on serve and led 20-21. PAOK took a last breath by equalizing with a wrong serve by the Cuban, but Olympiacos with a new series of four points made it 2-2 and sent the set to the tie break.

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More in a while…