Historical Panathinaikos, once again broke Olympiakos headquarters and took it 26th! The “greens” may have had their “backs against the wall” in the finals of the Volley League, but with three wins in a row they completed the biggest upset in a series, prevailing in the tie break of the “red and whites” (2-3 sets) and they kept their scepters for third consecutive season!
A huge match at Rentis’s indoor game with Panathinaikos leading, Olympiakos overturning the match and the “greens” entering with a knife in their teeth in the next two sets, completing the title reversal.
With the Cup the “red and white” compromised, despite their quality, they gave up at the most critical moment and saw the championship lost again.
The match:
Excellent start to the game for Panathinaikos with the “greens” having a very organized block and finding important points with Karkases, Grothes and Atkinson, reaching +4 (3-7). The “red and white” could not find a reaction to the good block of the visitors and lost several times the opportunity to reduce, as a result of which Panathinaikos widened its difference to five points.
Miceli called a timeout and Olympiakos’ demarcation began, after the “red and white” brought the match to a point with 17-18. Atkinson with a new point gave Panathinaikos a safety margin, but the Cup winners kept reacting as a result of erasing Panathinaikos’ two set balls, tying the game 24-24 and leading the set to overtime. There the “greens” were cool and took the lead in sets 24-26.
Explosive start for Olympiakos in the second set with Miceli’s team reacting and responding in a deafening way, building an early four-point difference (5-1) with Dragan Nesic calling a timeout! This helped Panathinaikos to come back and build a small 3-0 run and reduce to a point (5-4). The players of Nesic were cool and managed, first to gnaw, then to equalize and then overtake with 9-10!
But a boundary pass by Mleinkova and the net of Karkases gave Olympiakos the lead again for 11-10 and then 12-10. Once again, however, Panathinaikos showed patience in their game with the self-sacrifice of Papafotiou and the executive skill of Karkases to once again lead 12-13 with a new 3-0 run that again forced Miceli into a timeout.
The “greens” continued to maintain leads of one and two points until 18-19! There a terrible 4-0 with three points by Mleinkova brought the “red and white” to 21-19 with Panathinaikos temporarily leveling the match. But the wrong attacks of Karkases and the blocks of Fariol, were the ones that gave Olympiakos the right to tie at 1-1 in the sets with 25-21!
Panathinaikos made a similar start to Olympiakos in the third set with the “greens” making it 1-5 and forcing Miceli into a timeout. The reaction of the “red and whites” was similar, but more… late as the tie came to 11-11 with a block out won by Nizetich for Olympiakos.
The 5th final turned into a sensational derby with Olympiakos taking the lead, thanks to Militsa Koumboura who spoke in the crucial moments and gave key points to Olympiacos! The “red and white” played a terrible game with Lambrousi getting into the equation and ending the set with 25-21 after an ace, putting the Piraeus women in front of the score with 2-1.
The final was now on a razor’s edge and the Olympiakos players, despite +2, were equalized by the cool visitors for 4-4. One tie followed another, but Panathinaikos shielded his block at the most critical point and reached +7, taking a margin of safety. (13-20). There, Olympiacos tried to make its counterattack and even though it was significantly reduced, it did not worry Panathinaikos who reached 2-2 with 18-25, sending the final to the tie break!
The tie break started with two draws, but Panathinaikos with a bone-crushing block and with Karkases getting critical points, reached +3 (3-6) forcing Miceli to time out! Panathinaikos reached the four point difference (4-8) and went with a significant lead at the change of ground.
There again nothing changed as the terrible block led by Samandan, but also the unstoppable Karkases, gave Panathinaikos the championship with 2-3 sets and 9-15 in the tie break!
The sets: 24-26, 25-21, 25-21, 18-25, 9-15
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