Club Volleyball

Panathinaikos secure #CEVChallengeCupM quarterfinal spot

News

Article Wed, Jan 19 2022

As they have returned to the European stage after a long break of 10 years, Panathinaikos AC ATHENS are enjoying a very successful campaign in the men’s CEV Challenge Cup – and on Tuesday they reached the quarterfinals of the competition following their 3-2 home victory over Epicentr-Podolyany HORODOK of Ukraine. Last week, the ‘Greens’ had registered a 3-1 win away from home and by taking the first two sets of the re-match, they made sure they would stay in contention for the title.  

“We are very pleased that we managed to qualify for the quarterfinals. At the beginning of the match, we were very strong, and we managed to get the first two sets with great focus on our game. After winning the second set, we celebrated the qualification and maybe we lost a bit of concentration. The opponent seized the opportunity and came back into the match; they made it 2-2 and we had a hard time until we finally won.”

Sašo Štalekar
Player of Panathinaikos

Dimitrios Andreopoulos, head coach of Panathinaikos AC: “It was a difficult game and we qualified in the end. In the first set, we knew that no one could stop us. It was a very good set from all the players. We continued to play the same way in the second set as well. It is great that we have achieved all that we dreamed of for so many years. We are truly very happy.”

Bram Van den Dries, opposite hitter of Panathinaikos AC: “I am very happy that we have made it to the next phase and we even achieved the victory. Our opponent was a great team, and many of their players are in the national team of their respective country. We were strong with the service and in reception. We are now waiting for the result tomorrow to find out who our next opponent will be.”

“We knew very well from the previous match that this would be a difficult game for us. However, we came here to get as many sets as we could but quickly in the first two sets, Panathinaikos showed they were the better side and so got the qualification. We aspired to play even more in this competition, but we did not succeed. We hope to prepare even better for the future in order to reach higher goals.”

Mariusz Sordyl
Head coach of Epicentr-Podolyany HORODOK

Panathinaikos will play Spain’s CAI TERUEL or TJ Spartak MYJAVA of Slovakia in the next round. The Slovaks claimed a 3-1 victory last week on home soil.

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