LA LAGUNA punch historic ticket to #CEVChallengeCupW semis

CV Tenerife LA LAGUNA secured on Wednesday night a historic qualification for the semis of the women’s Challenge Cup following their 3-0 home victory (25-21, 25-23, 25-19) over Panathinaikos AC ATHENS of Greece.

With the support of their passionate fans, the hosts caught a promising start to the match (9-6) and with setter Patricia Aranda Munoz marshalling their game they extended their advantage even further (12-8). However, Panathinaikos fought back to flip the charts around and lead 17-14. Despite this, and even though Panathinaikos continued to fight hard, LA LAGUNA came back and eventually recorded a 25-21 first-set win.

The home side came out with all guns blazing in the second set as well (4-2). By the score of 10-3 for LA LAGUNA, the head coach of Panathinaikos had used both of his timeouts already. With the Spaniards leading 17-11, Panathinaikos mounted a comeback and eventually cut their deficit to two points only at 22-20. However, libero Patricia Llabrés and her teammates rose to the occasion to secure a 25-23 win.

As they had registered a 3-2 win last week in Greece, LA LAGUNA still needed to take one more set to seal their spot in the semis. They looked well on track as they stormed to an early 6-1 and 8-3 advantage in the third set – at this stage of the match, they looked literally dominant. Panathinaikos clawed back to 11-10 but two more points scored after a break allowed the Spaniards to regain confidence and control over the game. Libero Llabrés was especially outstanding – with Jessica Wagner scoring probably the most spectacular point of the whole match to move the score to 21-14 for the hosts. The ‘Greens’ from Greece fought bravely but LA LAGUNA eventually cashed their much-desired and historic ticket to the semis.