Olympiakos 3-0 Finikas: On to the ‘golden’ set and League Cup final against Panathinaikos

Olympiacos upset “Melina Merkouri” took three unanswered sentences from him Palm tree and in the “golden” set he was the first to reach 15 points (3-0 and 16-14) and thus qualified for the final League Cup Nikos Samaraswhere he will face Panathinaikos.

The Piraeus had their backs to the wall after the 3-1 defeat in Syros but managed to turn things around and look cool in the ‘golden’ set when the visitors were close, especially when they went 12-10 took the lead.

Olympiacos started strong and took a 5-3 lead with an excellent attack from Koumendakis. Stern won a block 7-5, with the Slovenian diagonal increasing the difference to +3 (9-6). Hidalgo then gave “air” four points (11-7) while hitting a nice ace for +5 (14-9). The ‘Red-Whites’ continued at the same pace, with Hidalgo gaining two more points to make it 19-13. After an out for the guests, Olympiacos reached 23-17, with Hidalgo “cleaning” the set (25-17) with two series of aces.

At the beginning of the second set, Stern separated the game 4:4 for the hosts, Phoenix then took the lead with +3 (7:10). Stern shortened to 10:9, Koumentakis equalized to 12:12, the “Red-Whites” passed for the first time in a set with 13:12 after an out of the guests. With Linardos’ first year, Olympiacos reached +2 (15-13), while with Hidalgo’s strong nail it “rose” to +3 (19-16). Olympiacos continued their dominance, escaping an ace from Stern at a crucial point with +4 (20-16) while Pagenk “wrote” 21-17. With a terrible ace from Hidalgo, the “Red-Whites” reached +5 (22-17), Phoenix reduced to 22-21, but Koumentakis made it 23-21. Finikas pushed and got a set bowl (23-24), but From sent the ball to 24-24 and Koumendakis made it 25-24 with a blockout for Olympiakos, who won the set 26-24 to make it 2-0 , after an attack by the guests.

It looked similar in the third set, in which the “Red-Whites” led 8:6 after a terrible defense and attack by Stern. Finikas overtook with a 3-0 series (8-9) but Koumentakis put Olympiakos ahead again 10-9 while Linardos put up a ‘wall’ with 11-9. An ace from Travitsa saw the hosts walk away +4 (13-9), while a block from Linardos made it 17-10! Then, with two consecutive attacks from Pagenk, the “Red-Whites” took a six-point lead (21-15) from Phoenix, which was reduced to 21-16 and 22-17. Stern gained another point for +6 (23-17), the Syros team closed to 23-20 while Koumendakis led Olympiakos to a bowl set (24-20). So Hidalgo made it 25-21 and 3-0 with a nice attack and sent the match to a “golden” set!

With attacks from Stern and Hidalgo, Olympiacos took a 1-0, 2-1 lead in the ‘golden’ set, with Koumendakis hitting a superb serve to make it 5-3! A block from Linardos put him at +3 (6-3), while a triple wall kept him 9-6, while Koumendakis declared himself present again at 10-7. Phoenix equalized at 10-10 and then led +2 (10-12), but Stern equalized with an ace at 12-12! Travisa made it 13-12, Stern made it 16-14, with a blockout and completing the surprise push to the finals.

It is noted that Olympiacos coach Alberto Giuliani returned to Greece to sit on the bench after the death of his father-in-law at dawn.

• The sentences: 25-17, 26-24, 25-21, 16-14
• *Olympiakos points come from 7 aces, 52 attacks, 10 blocks and 23 enemy errors, while Foinikas Syros points come from 5 aces, 33 attacks, 9 blocks and 29 enemy errors
• OLYMPIC (Giuliani): Pagenk 7 (6/14 ref, 1 block), Star 22 (19/34 ref, 2 aces, 1 block), Koumendakis 16 (16/30 ref, 56% sub – 44% excellent ). ), Travitsa 4 (1/2 ref, 2 blocks), Linardos 4 (1/3 ref, 3 blocks), Hidalgo 16 (9/26 ref, 4 aces, 3 blocks, 54% sub – 46% excellent) / Tziavras (l., 57% sub. – 48% excellent), Chandrinos, Zoupani
• PALM TREE (Senisic): Michalovic 13 (ref. 9/30, 3 aces, 1 block), Papalexiou 3 (ref. 2/5, 1 block), Charalambidis 2 (ref. 0/5, 2 blocks), Klinkenberg 8 (8 /22 ref, 55% ref – 50% excellent), Jerezuelo 7 (2/4 ref, 1 ace, 4 blocks), Fromm 10 (8/19 ref, 1 ace, 1 block, 36% ref – 22% excellent) / Konstantinidis (l., 39% sub. – 39% excellent), Galiotos, Sonakis (l.), Roumeliotakis 2 (2/4 ff.), Papadopoulos 2 (2/2 ff., 25% sub. – 25% excellent), Palaeologus (0/1 ff.)