Panathinaikos make it five wins in a row in #CEVChallengeCupW
News
Panathinaikos AC ATHENS have further extended their positive streak in the competition, making it five wins in a row courtesy of a 3-1 home victory over Romania’s CSM BUCURESTI (25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 25-19), winners of the Challenge Cup in 2016.
Sherridan Atkinson“We got a valuable win today and we are certainly very happy about it. This time we came out strong at the beginning and although we had some problems in the further development of the match, we solved them and reached the desired result. This match ends here today, and nothing has been decided as we have a re-match.”
Player of Panathinaikos
Ioannis Kalmazidis, head coach of Panathinaikos: “The team we played today was very tough and that gives value to our victory. The Romanians are a team that has a very good reception, strong middle blockers, and good outside hitters. Consequently, all this creates a very powerful group. In order to win, we played very well in block and defence, and I think the key was that they could not find it easy to score. Today we were focused on our game, and our mind is now on the re-match.”
Marius Vasile Macicasan, head coach of CSM BUCURESTI: “We came today to fight against a team with great quality and excellent individual players. It was not easy for us to stop the opponent; we managed it in some ways and now we will try our best in the second leg. It is very pleasing that we played in a crowded stadium, and we hope to do even better in the re-match at home.”
Matea Ikic, player of CSM BUCURESTI: “I think that today we did not play a very good game even though we were up against a team like Panathinaikos. We could have achieved more in some phases that were pivotal, but we did not manage to do that. Nevertheless, we will try to show an even better and more competitive image of ourselves in the second leg at home.”
Elsewhere, Neptunes NANTES of France showed their quality to outclass hosts Avarca de MENORCA in three straight sets. After a first set clearly dominated by the visitors (25-16) through their service and defence game, with players who, apart from their undisputed value, are much more used to playing with the yellow and blue Mikasa ball, Avarca de MENORCA recovered by setting the pace for most of the second set. However, the final reaction of Neptunes NANTES prevented the home side from levelling the match and the Frenchwomen ultimately took this decisive set 28-26. The third set was a lot more one-sided (25-13), thus paving the way for a comprehensive 3-0 victory for Neptunes.