Olympiacos fought, but surrendered to the superiority of Zirat

Olympiacos won the first set and surrendered to the senior Zirat in Rentis! Although the “red and white” made an emotional effort at the indoor “Melina Merkouri”, they were defeated by champion of Turkey 3-1 set for her 3rd matchday of the CEV Champions League and are looking for a win next weekend in Belgium against Rosellar in order to get back into the “trick” of qualification.

His players were excellent in the three remaining sets Daniel Katzelaniwho made it difficult for the high-quality Zirat, with Hidalgo to be Olympiakos’ top taraflex player and Stern, Gustavo successfully entering the equation.

Now the people of Piraeus are turning their attention to the “eternal” derby 8th matchday of the Volley League against Panathinaikos in Rentis, which will be held behind closed doors on Saturday (16/12) at 20:00.

The match:

The first set started in the worst way for Olympiakos, as Zirat, after initially being 3-1 in front of the score, quickly “jumped” the difference to +7 (8-1), forcing Daniel Castellani to hastily call a time-out. With the return to the taraflex, the “red and whites” did not manage to limit their mistakes, which, however, did not constitute them early on with the guests making the wrong choices and the difference reaching four, with Stern, Travitsa and to reduce Koumendakis to 11-7. However, the experienced players of Zirat put the foot on the gas again and with a separate 6-3 brought the score to 16-10. The set ended with a first-time attack by the Turks who comfortably reached 25-18 for 1-0.

A very good performance from Olympiakos in the second set, with Daniel Castellani’s men reacting and despite falling behind 5-3, they made an excellent start to take an 8-7 lead, thanks to excellent defenses by Giavra and excellent selections by Hidalgo and Pagenk in attack. The two teams went hand in hand with the “red and white” creating excellent conditions above the net with Gustavo and Stern finishing the phases, bringing the score to +5 (19-14, 20-15,22-17) . Castellani’s team did not let the opportunity go to waste and with Hidalgo putting his “stone” in the critical attacks, took the set (25-20) tying it 1-1.

Exciting development in the third set with the lead constantly changing hands and the difference until 15-15 not escaping for either team beyond the two points. However, the bad choices of the Olympiakos players at that point gave Zirat the right to make a 3-0 run and lead 18-15. The hosts tried to come back by reducing the point (19-18), but the quality and experience of the Turks “spoke” at the most critical point with the difference reaching four (23-19) and the set finally ending in Zirat with 25-20.

Derby in the fourth set as well with Olympiakos not stopping fighting and Hidalgo raising “speeds” at the moment when Zirat was looking for solutions to the German’s strong serve. On the one hand, the visitors reached +2 four times (5-7, 6-8, 7-9, 8-10) with the “red and white” retaliating and taking the lead with Pagenk, Gustavo and Stern (15-13 ). The match for Olympiakos “went wrong” as the coach of Zirat, “tightened” the defense, adding in front of the net the tallest and most athletic he had on the roster. The “red and white” however, after 19-19 suffered a “blackout” and saw Zirat run a 4-0 run that brought her to 23-19. Although Hidalgo and Pagenk got a block out, the timeout on the part of the guests cut the “red and white” rhythm and the match went to Zirat with Hidalgo scoring a net to make it 25-22 for the final 3-1.

The sets: 18-25, 25-20, 20-25, 22-25

Here are the match stats…