AO Thiras: Announced the acquisition of Stella Christodoulou

After twelve years at Olympiakos, Stella Christodoulou will continue her great career in the Cyclades and AO Thiras.

The Santorini team have announced the acquisition of the great passer, in what is also the biggest transfer in the club’s history.

The corresponding announcement in detail: “AO Thiras management is extremely pleased to announce the start of the club’s collaboration with Stella Christodoulou for the 2023-2024 Women’s Volley League season. The veteran Olympiakos former passer, who needs no special introduction, will step up this year’s efforts.” for the award of AO Thiras, marking the 5th station of her illustrious career.

Born on July 19, 1991 in Athens, Stella Christodoulou (1.84 m) and her sister Elena grew up in a family with DNA… sporty! Fanis Christodoulou, daughter of veteran international basketball player Christos Christodoulou and niece of the great “Bepi” of Greek basketball, devoted herself to a different sport and was introduced to the values ​​and ideals of sport from an early age, always aiming high.

Stella took her first steps in volleyball at Byron where she competed with the Byron Union (2004-2006) and later went to Panhellenic. He played with the “colors” of the Kypseli team for five years (2006-2011) and then transferred to Piraeus on behalf of Olympiacos. There, with the exception of the few months of 2021 when she competed in Turkey’s Belendiye Aydin due to the Covid-related suspension of the national championships, Christodoulou remained “red-white” until last season.

In their 12-year presence at Olympiacos, our team’s new great achievement left its “indelible mark” on the history of the women’s team of the Piraeus Club, leading the “Red-Whites” to the first and only European Trophy in the history of the Greek in 2018 women’s volleyball, the Challenge Cup, where she was a finalist the year before. At the same time, he celebrated eight league titles (2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20) and eight Greek Cup wins (2012). , 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019).

In addition to the precious “cups” and medals adorning Stella Christodoulous’s trophy case, the 32-year-old ace’s record is “No. 14” in Olympic and national competitions, just as “rich” in individual awards: MVP of the CEV Challenge Cup (2018), best passer of the Europa League 2015, two-time MVP of the Greek League (2016-2017, 2018-2019), also often most valuable player of the Greek Cup (2014, 2019) and of course many titles from top athletes on matchdays of the Volleyleague Championships.

Christodoulou was a member of our national team and started her career in the junior national team and later thanks to her competitiveness, hard work and personality as a member of the women’s national team in the 14 years of its presence, until last year “goodbye” recorded more than 125 Appearances in “Blue and White”. A fact that made AO’s newly acquired “Maestro” a member of the “pantheon” of Greek volleyball athletes, with the most appearances with the national emblem.

The former captain of the “Blue-Whites” took part in qualifiers for World and European Championships and Europa League matches, where she won two bronze medals with the national team in 2015 and 2016. She was also the top passer at the 2015 event. He also took part in the Mediterranean Games (2013, 2018), where he most recently led our national team to 2nd place as captain of the “Blue and White” in Tarragona, Spain. In August 2019, she was the main passer of our representative group in the final of the European Championship, where Greece placed 14th out of 32 countries.

Stella Christodoulou in her first official statements as an AO Thiras athlete expressed her excitement and said: “For me it is a new beginning with the AO Thiras team. First of all I would like to thank Mr. Spyros and Andreas Patiniotis for their approach and the respect they showed me. I hope that we have a good season in terms of health and that the team can achieve the goals that have been set.”

The club management warmly welcomes the new member of the AO Thiras family and wishes Stella a good sporting year, health and lots of success on a collective and personal level with our team.”