Volleyball
Women’s Volleyball Cup: All set for the first serve of the semifinals
The heart of women’s volleyball will beat in Arta on the two days of March 10-11, where the Final Four of the Cup will be held, AO Thiras – Panathinaikos and AEK – PAOK pairs.
The first women’s volleyball title of the year will be decided in Arta. On the two days from March 10th to 11th, the Final Four of the Cup with the four teams ready to offer a rich spectacle.
The first timed semi-final will see last year’s final pair clash, with AO Thiras taking on trophy holder Panathinaikos.
The quintessential home side AO Thiras, making their 5th appearance in Final 4, are claiming their fourth consecutive appearance in the Finals after making a splash in the quarterfinals against (multi-champion) Olympiakos.
For its part, Panathinaikos wants to defend the title it won last year in Heraklion, while this year it defeated AO Thiras in both matches of Volley League.
However, the last time the two teams faced each other in a cup semi-final (2021) the winner was AO Thiras as they won the indoor game of Agios Thomas 3-2.
For the second time in a row, AEK and PAOK meet in the cup, but this time the winner gets the ticket to the final.
At last year’s tournament, the two Dikefali faced off in the round of 16, with AEK winning 3-2 after a long battle.
Union in the 4th Final 4 in their history (and for the first time since 2019) aiming to reach the final for the 4th time (they lost the previous three) and are the team that broke this year’s streak of unbeaten Thessaloniki with a win 3-0 in the derby of matchday 11.
PAOK is looking for its second trophy in its first Final 4 (it had also qualified in 2020 when the event was postponed due to the pandemic).
PAOK and AEK are the teams that are in the top two places in Volley League standings after 20 games, with the black-white having 50 points and the yellow-black having 48 points, and in the 22nd game there is a derby between them , which will largely decide the first in the regular season.
The game plan
Friday March 10, 2023
- 18.00 (ERTSPORTS 1): AO Thiras – Panathinaikos AO
- Referees: Daniilidou, Georgakis Match observers: Kalpaktsoglou Referee observers: Raptis Coaches: Malliara, Stathopoulou Secretariat: Trikka, Paspala.
- 21.15 (ERT-3): AEK – PAOK
- Referee: Vassiliadis, Nikakis Match observer: Kalpaktsoglou Referee observer: Georgopoulos Coaches: Malliara, Stathopoulou Secretariat: Paspala, Trikka.
Saturday March 11, 2023
- Final, T9 Artas 21.30 (ERT-3): Winner semi-final 1 – Winner semi-final 2
Source: sport 24
Alberta Robinson is a sports journalist and author, who is currently associated with the publication Sportish, where she writes about sports related news and events. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, Robinson brings in-depth analysis and insightful commentary to her writing.