CHIERI advance to #CEVChallengeCupW quarterfinals, continue triumphal march
News
Italy’s Reale Mutua Fenera CHIERI – the winners of the inaugural WEVZA Cup earlier this season – have reached the quarterfinals of the women’s CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup following their 3-2 away win at Panathinaikos ATHENS to go with the 3-0 landslide victory they had claimed a week earlier on home soil. CHIERI had punched their ticket to the next stage of the competition already after leading 2-1 in the re-match with Panathinaikos – and they eventually emerged victorious from the subsequent tiebreak.
Ioannis Kalmazidis“We played well except for the first set. Generally, we did well. You can always find things to improve. CHIERI put a lot of pressure on us, but we did well. The differences between the teams and the respective leagues are massive and we are happy to have played against them. CHIERI may win the Challenge Cup in the end, and sometimes you need more luck with the draw to make it further in the competition.”
Head coach of Panathinaikos
Eirini Chatziefstratiadou, player of Panathinaikos: “We knew it would be tough as CHIERI may win the Challenge Cup in the end, but we were competitive. We will keep on fighting for the Greek Championship and Cup.”
Giulio Cesare Bregoli, head coach of CHIERI: “It was a good battle here in Athens and we eventually made it to the next round. We did well in the first set, but Panathinaikos got back into the game. We got the advantage in the third set from our attack. The game was amazing till the end. The atmosphere was amazing too.”
Olivia Rozanski“We took the win and the qualification in a tough arena to play in. We knew the atmosphere would be crazy and for sure we enjoyed it. We have made it to the next round, and now we are looking forward to our next matches.”
Player of Reale Mutua Fenera CHIERI