On the “air” of News Bulletin 247 and the show “Newsroom” by Tasos Nikolopoulos and Nikos Zervas, the libero of the Olympiakos volleyball team was hosted, Marialena Artakianou!
After talking about the Final 4 of the Cup held in Loutraki, winning the trophy and the matches with Panathinaikos and AEK, she emphasized that now her team is turning to the goal of the championship, adding that volleyball is not shown as much as it should be in our country.
What the Olympic libero said:
On how it feels to be crowned Cup Winners for the second consecutive year with a different team: “I am very happy. The truth is that this year we are working very hard, it is a huge success that after five years we have won the Cup again. This year all teams are competitive, anyone can beat anyone. There were very strong games in the Final 4 of Loutraki, the crowd saw beautiful volleyball. From there, the team’s goal is to win the championship as well, we have entered the final stretch for the completion of the regular season and the start of the playoffs”.
For the two Final 4 games: “We had prepared properly for Panathinaikos, we knew it would be a very strong game, because both teams are very good and had the goal of winning the Cup. In the first set we were more stressed than we should have been, but from the second onwards we managed it better, raised our performance and then the game came easily for us. In the final with AEK we controlled the game and the tempo throughout and won more easily than in the semi-final”.
For the goal of winning the championship: “Of course it is our goal. We really want to get back to winning the championship, that’s why we are working very hard. We have chemistry, we are a very good team, we are optimistic and we believe we will succeed”.
On whether she and her teammates accept the title of favorite: “Home advantage may give us the title of favourite, but as we have seen in previous years, seats are broken. All teams, wherever they play, always go to win. We may have an advantage, but you are not properly prepared, all seats can be broken”.
About the full stands and the beautiful images we saw at the Final 4 in Loutraki and whether she is satisfied with the presentation of women’s volleyball: “Generally there is dissatisfaction, because we underestimate volleyball in Greece and we don’t understand why this is happening. We have seen how things are abroad. Here the sport is not shown as much as it should be, unfortunately we see too many empty stadiums. For me, television should be more involved, so that the sport can develop. This has been a request of volleyball players for years. The sport should be shown more”.
Listen to the audio:
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
