Unthinkable derbara in Metz and “Green” home advantage! In a match similar to the dynamics and history of the two teams, Panathinaikos prevailed 3-1 set of Olympiakos for her 17th matchday and a “turn” before the end of its normal duration Volleyball League embrace the first!
Unreal development in fourth set with Olympiakos completely controlling the match and him Hernandez to turn the “knob” overturning it to the detriment of the home team 15-19 with his own points!
Match for strong nerves in Metz’s closed game with his team Daniel Castellani to equate to 1-1 the sets and that of Andreopoulos bringing out character in moments when the Piraeus team seemed to be taking the reins! Top scorer for the winners with 23 Fernando HernandezThe Stern for Olympiakos he distinguished himself with 16 points.
Second defeat for Olympiakos in the championship, Panathinaikos continued its impressive unbeaten streak of clean victories!
The match
Explosive start for Panathinaikos, who with the excellent service made it difficult for the Olympiakos players in the reception, resulting in a 5-0 lead, forcing Daniel Castellani to call a time-out. The “red and whites” found answers by reducing to two, however their mistakes and the impressive play of Panathinaikos over the net, gave Panathinaikos a five-point lead again. Daniel Castellani’s team played smart and “marked” Hernandez’s reception by temporarily reducing the number to two.
However, the “greens” stepped on the gas and with the impressive Hernandez and Protopsaltis, as well as the great contribution of Theodoros Voulkidis who had two aces in the first set, they made it 1-0 in the set with 25-19.
The swing of the second set was shocking with Panathinaikos taking a quick three-point lead again, but Olympiacos responded with a short run to tie the match and even take their first lead thanks to Stern for (5-6). Panathinaikos was fortunate to see Hernandez raise his percentages, but errors in reception and two excellent attacks by Hidalgo and Stern brought Olympiacos to +2 (12-14) and Panathinaikos tied with his seventh ace in match for 14-14 with Protopsaltis. At that point, an ace by Stern, but also two well-organized “red and white” attacks, brought the champion of Greece to +3 (17-20) for the first time, forcing Andreopoulos to hastily call a timeout.
With the return to the taraflex, Panathinaikos with Voulkidis and Hernandez scoring, but also a mistake by Hidalgo equalized again (20-20). Castellani’s team was not deterred by the “green” counterattack which brought the match to 23-23 with a terrible single block by Kovar on Koumendakis, for 23-23. However, Protopsaltis’ wrong serve, as well as Rangel’s misjudgment, brought Olympiakos to a tie with 23-25.
The third set in Mets was also full of emotions with Panathinaikos firmly in front with differences of three and four points which Olympiacos “erased” by reducing to a point. The “greens” invested in the block with Rangel and Voulkidis offering their best to Dimitris Andreopoulos, but the “red and whites” found a score again with Koumendakis, Pagenk and Stern, who brought the match to a point (13-12). This pattern remained for some time with the duels above the net with Panathinaikos maintaining a short lead until 22-21. There Olympiacos found a terrible 3-0 which boosted their psychology for 22-23 with Andreopoulos calling a timeout. This woke up the “greens” who took the match to… overtime, tying at 24-24. There, Kovar’s successful block out and Petrea’s ace in his first contact with the ball gave Panathinaikos the set 26-24 and the lead in the sets 2-1.
Determined not to lose the lead, but not the match either, Olympiacos managed to take advantage of all the mistakes of Panathinaikos and take a five-point lead (3-8) with the “good morning” in the fourth set. The “greens” were loaded with a lot of weight on their backs, seeing the “red and whites” find solutions in scoring. However, despite Olympiakos’ five-point lead, Pagenk was fouled and red carded and… Hernandez took action!
The great Cuban with an improbable crescendo brought the match from 15-19 to 19-19, transferring the momentum to Panathinaikos. So even though Olympiacos made it 19-20, Hernandez with another point and Kovar-Petreas with the same number of blocks brought the “greens” to +2!
The victory and the advantage of Panathinaikos was sealed by the mistakes of the Olympiakos players in the last attack and Hernandez’s block on Stern for 25-23 that made it 3-1 in the sets.
THE SETS: 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 26-24, 25-23) in 118;
*Panathinaikos’ points came from 11 aces, 50 attacks, 10 blocks and 36 opponent errors while Olympiacos’ points came from 5 aces, 39 attacks, 11 blocks and 28 opponent errors
PANATHINAIKOS (Dimitris Andreopoulos): Kovar 15 (10/23 ref., 1 ace, 4 blocks, 60% subs. – 48% excellent), Jerezuelo 2 (2/3 ref.), Rangel 6 (5/10 ref., 1 block), Hernandez 23 (18/34 ref., 3 aces, 2 blocks), Voulkidis 10 (3/6 ref., 5 aces, 2 blocks), Protopsaltis 13 (12/25 ref., 1 ace, 41% sub. – 23% excellent ) / Kontostathis (min., 43% sub. – 33% excellent), Kasampalis, Petreas 2 (1 ace, 1 block), Markou
OLYMPIAN (Daniel Castellani): Pagenk 7 (5/8 ref., 1 ace, 1 block), Stern 16 (11/23 ref., 2 aces, 3 blocks), Koumentakis 9 (8/15 ref., 1 ace, 40% sub. – 34 % excellent), Travisa 2 (1/4 ref., 1 block), Djuric 8 (4/8 ref., 4 blocks), Hidalgo 12 (9/26 ref., 1 ace, 1 block, 18% ref. – 12% excellent) / Tziavras (l., 40% sub. – 27% excellent), Zoupani, Dalakouras 1 (1/2 eff.)
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