Club Volleyball

SK ANKARA score the big points to take half a step towards #CEVChallengeCupM semis

News

Article Fri, Jan 17 2025

In the first round of the CEV Challenge Cup quarterfinals, PAOK THESSALONIKI faced the Turkish team SK ANKARA on home soil, where they had to accept a 1-3 defeat.

The players and coaching staff of SK ANKARA celebrate their away victory in Thessaloniki

Before the match began, PAOK honoured American outside hitter Garrett Muagututia for his contribution to the team. He played for PAOK during the 2018/2019 season and was named MVP during the Greek Cup victory in Ierapetra. The award was presented by the team manager, Achilleas Tzikas.

Now playing for SK ANKARA, Garrett Muagututia previously competed for PAOK and was honoured before the match

In the first set, the visitors started stronger, leading 4-1. However, PAOK responded and turned the score around to 8-6. The set remained balanced, with the teams tied at 11-11. At that point, the opponents increased the pressure on PAOK’s reception with powerful serves from Salvador Hidalgo Oliva and Thomas Edgar, thereby gaining a significant advantage at 17-11. Despite PAOK’s attempts to fight back, the gap persisted, and the set ended 25-16 in favour of SK ANKARA. 

In the second set, PAOK had a slow start, falling behind 2-7. With a 5-0 run, the hosts though managed to level the score at 7-7. The teams remained neck and neck up to 14-14, but PAOK took the lead at 16-14, which they extended to 20-17 at a crucial point. However, a 4-0 run by the visitors reversed the score to 21-20 for SK ANKARA. Nikolay Kolev tied the game at 21-21, but SK ANKARA responded with another 3-0 run, thus creating three set points at 24-21. PAOK reduced the deficit to 22-24 after an error by the visitors, but the set concluded at 25-22 for the Turkish team. 

Nikolay Kolev, a recent addition to the roster of PAOK, rises high to avoid the Turkish block

PAOK made a strong start in the third set, taking an early lead at 6-3. The team increased its rhythm, applied pressure on the opponent’s reception, and improved its attacking efficiency, thereby maintaining a steady advantage at 16-12. With a consistent performance, PAOK solidified their lead toward the end, making it 20-14. Although SK ANKARA managed to reduce the gap to 21-18, PAOK reacted well and closed the set at 25-19, thereby narrowing the overall score to 1-2.

With momentum on their side, PAOK entered the fourth set strongly, leading 5-2 and extending their advantage to 10-4. Midway through the set, the lead grew to 14-7, but SK ANKARA fought back, reducing the gap to 15-11. PAOK maintained a four-point lead at 19-15, but the visitors closed in at a critical moment to 20-18. With the score at 22-19, a 4-0 run by SK ANKARA turned the game around to 23-22. Dimitrios Mouchlias equalised at 23-23, but two errors by PAOK players allowed the visitors to take the set 25-23 and the match 3-1. 

The two teams will face each other again to determine who advances to the next round in the return match in Ankara, scheduled for Wednesday, January 29. 

Salvador Hidalgo Oliva (right) played a leading role in securing the away victory for SK ANKARA

Josko Milenkoski, coach of PAOK: “Even in the first set, up until 11-11, we were playing well. Then Hidalgo and Edgar went to serve, and they won the set easily. After that, all the sets were close; we played very well, but our issue is that from point 20 onwards, we do not have a player who can take the crucial balls. We saw this in the second set when we were leading 20-17, in the third set where we started very strong and won it, and again in the fourth set where we were ahead 22-20. Once more, we lacked the player to finish the points. It is the same story in every match – I do not know what is going wrong.

We played well against a high-level team with experienced players, but we reach the critical point and then falter. This is the recurring theme for us. We have one more game where we want to give our best and see what we can achieve. However, what we need to fix is that we must finish sets in our favour.

We have seen many things in Volleyball. There is a big incentive ahead of us, which is reaching the semi-finals. There is no pressure – we have nothing to lose. We need to play freely, avoid the mistakes we made, do everything right, and aim for a big surprise by advancing to the final four of the CEV Challenge Cup.” 

Nedim Özbey, coach of SK ANKARA: “We knew that PAOK is a new team, as they have made many player changes recently. Both Kolev and Milan Katic are very good players. Combined with the dynamic atmosphere created by PAOK’s fans, we knew it would make our task difficult. We started well, served effectively, and after taking a 2-0 lead in sets, our setter got injured, which affected the team. We lost the third set and started very poorly in the fourth.

We adjusted our tactics, improved our serves, and our blocking worked in key moments. In the final points of the fourth set, the opponent made some easy mistakes, which allowed us to secure the victory. We expect a similar match in Ankara. After today’s win, we have a great opportunity to advance to the semi-finals. Now, we will be playing at home, and we will see what happens.  We need to stay focused and play at a high pace, delivering a strong performance. That is our only focus. For now, we have just taken half a step toward the semi-finals.” 

#Volleyball