He fought against the traps and… Olympiacos responded with his quality!
The doubles of Greece may have faced formidable resistance from the militancy Las Palmas in Rentis, but the quality of their great players played a decisive role for them to prevail 3-0 set and have the ticket to qualify in his last qualifier Champions League in their hand!
On October 8 the rematch in Spain, with Olympiakos looking for it two sets or the gold set to play with one of Schönenverd or Brasov to play again in the groups of the top European interclub competition.
The match:
Dominant from the beginning of the match, Olympiacos imposed its rhythm on the Iberians and succeeded with their protagonists Perrin and Jurich to lead by four points (11-7)leaving behind the slight pressure from Las Palmas. The score remained at a distance of 4-5 points in favor of Gardini’s team, with Atanasiewicz to enter the equation and give solutions from the serve destroying the slots of Las Palmas. Bruno’s bad serve and a bad attack from Olympiakos effectively “erased” the home team’s set ball, which, however, turned into a winner, for the set, by Perrin’s hand (25-21).
The second set turned into a real derby, after Las Palmas brought out their quality and, despite Olympiakos’ consecutive draws, remained in front of the score for a long time. However, the 10-12 of the Iberians happened with cinematic speed 15-12 for the Piraeus with Atanasievics and Koumendakis helping offensively. In fact, the “red and white” managed to widen the gap to +4 (19-15) with Djuric forcing the Las Palmas coach to call a time-out. Despite this, the red and white… train was unstoppable, Koumentakis gifted the set ball (24-20) to Olympiakos. Las Palmas fought back and with a short 3-0 run brought the match to 24-23 with Gardini interrupting the Iberian rhythm, calling a time-out.
The return to the taraflex brought the equalizer with a block by Bruno on Pagenk and… overtime in the set. The impressive rally brought Olympiacos ahead 25-24 thanks to an unimaginable layup by Pagenk, while another block out brought the guests even (25-25). The tension reached its peak with the two teams going hand in hand deep into the set. The visitors went on a 2-0 run thanks to Walla’s astuteness, but Payenk’s first time leveled the match at 30-30! Payenk’s impressive block, however, as well as Atanasievic’s ace, brought Olympiakos to 32-30 and the 2-0 in sets.
Las Palmas’ two mistakes at the start of the third set were followed by Djuric’s bad serve for 3-2. Olympiacos, however, suffered a small “blackout” which the guests did not let go unexploited, since a short 2-6 run brought them to +3 (5-8). The Spaniards found ways to shield their reception and managed to have a lead until 8-11. From that point onwards, the Olympiakos players reacted and with Djuric, Payenk and Atanasievic leading the game, brought the match to 14-12. This upset brought Olympiakos complete dominance, despite the fact that Las Palmas managed to equalize with the amazing Walla at 19-19. Djuric brought the Greek doubles back to a position of strength (21-19), but the Spaniards fell to 24-23, with Atanasievic giving his team the victory for the final 25-23. (3-0 set).
The sets: 25-21, 32-30, 25-23
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