Panathinaikos outclass young CSKA side in season opener
News
Greece’s standout Panathinaikos ATHENS has returned to the European stage and has done so in style – as they stormed to a comprehensive 3-0 victory (25-7, 25-16, 25-16) in their home matchup with Bulgaria’s CSKA SOFIA scheduled for the 32nd Finals of the women’s CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup. Courtesy of this result, the ‘Greens’ will need to take two sets from next week’s rematch in Bulgaria’s capital city to secure a spot in the 16th Finals and play there Spain’s CV Cajasol Juvasa SEVILLA. Bogumila Biarda top scored for the winners with 13 points.
Eirini Chatziefstratiadou“For us this match coincided with the beginning of the season. I think we delivered a good first performance today, but for sure we have room to improve even more. Certainly, no signs of relaxation are allowed from our side, and we have to be in the match body and soul until the ball drops, we must not stop. Winning 3-0 today does not mean we should relax; we should go to Sofia and do our job there too.”
Player of Panathinaikos
Dragan Nesic, head coach of Panathinaikos: “I am very happy today because we were very disciplined. We had prepared properly for this match. CSKA is a good team with a rich history and has three members on their roster who won the latest edition of the U18 European Championship earlier this summer. In addition, they have quality coaching staff too. For us it was the first official match, and we can now focus on the rematch as we have no other commitments until then. I want to thank our fans who came out and supported us in this match, and I also want to say thank you to the new little ball retrievers who came today for the first time with their parents, and they were also a part of our team.”
Iveta Stanchulova, player of CSKA: “I think that today we did not play a very good game, and we did not manage to focus on and execute our game plan. Nevertheless, it was an experience for us, and we will try to be more competitive at home. It is up to us to improve, learn from our mistakes and for that to happen we will try hard in the rematch.”
Yuliya Ivanova“Today we did not manage to show what we wanted on the court and certainly for us it was a demanding match that came very early in the season. We will focus on the second match and hope to show a much better image at home. Certainly, the opponent has a quality team, but we can show a more competitive face.”
Head coach of CSKA SOFIA
Pölkky KUUSAMO (FIN) vs Apollo 8 BORNE (NED) 0-3 (22-25, 23-25, 25-27)
Pölkky KUUSAMO and Apollo 8 BORNE played their first Challenge Cup match in Kuusamo on Wednesday as well. The two teams looked a little bit nervous as they traded points early in the match. Apollo 8 BORNE, however, took the leader position almost from the start and finished the opening set at 25-22 in their favour with great serving and blocking.
Pölkky KUUSAMO had a good start to the second set. By the score of 13-6 for the hosts, Apollo 8 BORNE took a timeout. This produced the desired results, and the Dutch team chased Pölkky KUUSAMO point by point. The end of the set was closely fought but Apollo 8 BORNE had more quality in the last rallies and ultimately took the set.
In third set, Pölkky KUUSAMO started well again. This set provided good rallies and great defence actions from both sides. Again, Apollo 8 BORNE showed their quality and eventually took the game in three straight sets.
Overall, the game was tight. Next week’s return match in Borne will be an interesting fixture too. Essi Helminen from Pölkky KUUSAMO and Noa Krikhaar from Apollo 8 BORNE were chosen as the best players of their respective teams.
Friso SNEEK (NED) vs Fleyr TORSHAVN (FAR) 3-0 (25-9, 25-17, 25-17)
The women of Friso SNEEK from the Netherlands turned their home match against Fleyr TORSHAVN into an easy triumph in just over an hour. Erik Reitsma’s team achieved a 3-0 victory over their guests from the Faroe Islands in front of over 550 spectators with the set scores reading 25-9, 25-17 and 25-17.
The visitors were of course the underdogs. Volleyball on the Faroe Islands has a rather small competition with only seven teams and Fleyr finished in second place last season. For them it was their debut at European level and after three sets Kristian Mikkelsen’s team had to accept a 3-0 defeat. Fleyr did not have too high expectations beforehand. “If we get above 15 points, we have done well,” said their coach.
The team has therefore met that expectation at least for two sets. At Friso, every player came onto the field to get a taste of the European adventure. This also accentuated the difference in class. The visitors were not able to put up a real fight, especially in attacking terms. Next week, the return match will be on the Faroe Islands and seems to be turning into a formality. The winner of the duel will play against Greece’s ATHENS ASP Thetis in the 16th Finals.