Neptunes NANTES set sights on #CEVChallengeCupW semis
News
France’s Neptunes NANTES are only two sets away from reaching the semis of the women’s CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup following their 3-1 victory (25-21, 25-27, 25-21, 25-21) at Panathinaikos AC ATHENS in the first round of the quarterfinals contested on Wednesday afternoon in the Hellenic capital. Next week, when they play the return match at home, Neptunes NANTES will need to take two sets to make sure they reach the last four of the competition. Taylor Mims top scored for the winners with a personal tally of 21 points.
Athina Papafotiou“Today we did not reach our high standards of performance. Neptunes NANTES are a very good team, but we did not play as well as we would have liked. The re-match will be a completely different game. We will prepare and we want to achieve the best possible result.”
Player of Panathinaikos
Ioannis Kalmazidis, head coach of Panathinaikos AC ATHENS: “Today NANTES showed that they are a very strong team but so are we. The second leg will be a different game. They put a lot of pressure on us with their serve, to which we could not quite respond. This was also reflected in the attacking performance of both teams.”
Hena Kurtagic, player of Neptunes NANTES: “We knew it would be a tough match. Panathinaikos is the best opponent we have faced up to now. We need to play very well in France too to qualify for the semis.”
Cesar Hernandez“Today we had a very good match, and we realised that would be the case right from the beginning. We performed well for most of the match and things went according to our plan. However, at some point we lost our focus and became a bit disorganised. The second game will be completely different, and we know that Panathinaikos will come to push right from the start.”
Head coach of Neptunes NANTES