PAOK lifted their fifth trophy in their history on Saturday night after beating Olympiakos 3-1 in an impressive final.

However, Dikefalos took that particular trophy, and whoever wins it later in the year, well before that. When Josko Milenkoski was ready to leave, the team management decided to support him and the result justifies it.

Since then, PAOK have steadily improved and confirmed in Kalamata that they are the best team in Greece this season.

The Tailor’s Rhapsody

We couldn’t start the finale’s commentary from anything other than MVP. Last summer, Alexandros Raptis left Panathinaikos for PAOK.

The reason; To find a stable and important role in a team that is aiming for the title. At the age of 23, Alexandros Raptis performed like a dream.

He held the slot, attacked with 76% spatiality (25/33 attacks with just one miss) and three aces. What more could Milenkoski ask of his winger, who stopped at 28 points.

The team turned the tables

As the MVP, Alexandros Raptis said in his statements, the whole team had to do a lot of work for him to make this appearance.

In particular, Kokkinakis and Giorna swept the back zone, Walsh did an excellent job splitting the game after the first set, Skrentau and Voulkidis helped with blocking and attacking, while Den Dries’ contribution was also important.

The stats might say that the Belgian had 30% attacking with 12/40, but he helped with his serves as well as his blocks (4).

Everyone worked to ensure PAOK could turn the tide of the first set and claim the title.

The decisive point of the final

The final was undoubtedly decided in the second half of the third set. Olympiacos entered first 17-13, but the rest belonged entirely to PAOK.

Dikephalos managed to run away 12-4 at this point, with Dan Dries and Rapti doing an excellent job on offense. A pressing serve and an excellent block defense led PAOK to surprise.

PAOK essentially confirmed the image it had shown us in the game series against Panathinaikos, playing excellently and having many protagonists.

Shorted from Travica, low flying from Hidalgo

Now we come to the defeated Olympiakos. Giuliani’s players traveled to Kalamata in high spirits, just as they did after qualifying against Panathinaikos in the Challenge Cup semifinals.

However, in the final against PAOK, only in the first set did they show the image we’ve been accustomed to seeing them for the last month or so. In the third shot on goal, they simply took advantage of Dikefalos’ many mistakes, but also their excellent block.

But what was the big problem of Olympiacos? The main thing was that it clouded Travis’ mind. The big passer saw that Stern was having a good day (Slovene had 17/37 attacks) and attacked him.

In fact, he overwhelmed him as he took more balls than Pagenk (11), Koumentakis (15) and Linardos (7) combined. At the same time, Hidalgo appeared to be fully read by the PAOK block, breaking many balls in his attacks, with the Cuban counting disappointing 8/26 attacks.

Both titles the next day

The Cup Final Four concluded as PAOK received a huge psychological injection for the sequel. Dikefalos and Olympiacos are likely to be the couple in the championship final.

Both lead 2-0 each against Panathinaikos and Milos, so they only need one win to clinch the title, with Olympiakos having the home field advantage.

At the same time, we must not forget that the Red-Whites also have the League Cup final with Panathinaikos, which may have less prestige, but especially when the Greens are no longer fighting for the championship, they will want it more.

Anyway, for about 45 more days we will watch great duels in men’s and women’s volleyball.