As in training, Panathinaikos won a 3-1 set against Sousa and qualified for the round of 16 of the Challenge Cup, where they will face Italy’s Monza.

The Greens confirmed their competitive superiority, with excellent serves and blocks they easily won the first two sets and made qualification clear.

Then Dimitris Andreopoulos gave playing time to all his players who managed to end the game with a win.

The first scorer for Panathinaikos was Markou with 16 points, who played in place of Hernandez for three sets.

Panathinaikos – Sousa 3-1

The sentences: 25-16, 25-12, 23-25, 25-16

*Panathinaikos’ points came from 11 aces, 51 attacks (58% efficiency), 8 blocks and 28 opponent errors (16 misses) and Sousa’s points came from 2 aces, 28 attacks (41% efficiency), 10 blocks and 29 opponent errors ( 21 serves lost). The sets: 3-1 (25-16, 25-12, 23-25, 25-16) in 88′

PANATHINAIKOS AO (Dimitris Andreopoulos): Kovar 9 (7/12 ref., 1 ace, 1 block, 82% sub. – 55% excellent), Yerezuelo 3 (2/2 ref., 1 block), Petraes 6 (1/ 3 Ref. ., 2 Aces, 3 Blocks), Hernandez 3 (2/3 Ref., 1 Block), Voulkidis 9 (5/10 Ref., 3 Aces, 1 Block), Protopsaltis 7 (6/10 Ref., 1 Ace, 100% sub. – 67% excellent) / Kontostathis (l., 83% sub. – 67% excellent), Zisis (l., 50% sub. – 50% excellent), Kasampalis, Papaggelopoulos 6 (5/ 7 ff., 1 ace), Frankos 5 (5/12 ff., 50% Sub. – 10% Excellent), Kostopoulos 6 (6/12 ff., 50% Sub. – 22% Excellent), Markou 16 (12 /17 ff ., 3 aces, 1 block).

SOUSA (Ziya Rayabov): Villafane 2 (1/1 Ref., 1 Block), Okolic 7 (6/8 Ref., 1 Block), Moroz 2 (1/3 Ref., 1 Ace), Friesen 4 (4/ 10 referees, 29% SG – 21% SG), Hutchenson 7 (5/14 SG, 2 blocks, 52% SG – 24% SG), Morman 4 (2/5 SG, 2 blocks) / Matsuo (l, 58% under – 29% excellent), Imamuliyev (l), Hasanli 1 (1 ace), Bowers, Murray 4 (1/4 ref., 3 blocks), Bray 3 (3/9 ref., 17% under – 17% excellent ), Santangelo 6 (5/13 ff., 1 block).

The second matchday of the Champions League group stage ended with Olympiakos losing 3-0 in sets against Roselare.

In the group’s other match, Zirat won a 3-2 set against ZAKSA to take the lead in the group as it sits at the top with five points, followed by Poland with four.

The rating

1. Zirat 5
2. ZAKSA 4
3. Crack Roselare 3
4. Olympiacos 0

The schedule and results of the group

1st match day

• Kienzenrjin Kozle – Olympiacos SFP 3-1
• Knack Roselare – Zirat Bank 1-3

2nd match day

• Olympiacos SFP – Nak Roselare 3-0
• Zirat Bank – Kienzenrjin Kozle 3-2

3rd matchday

• December 12th, 7:00 p.m.: Olympiacos SFP – Zirat Bank (Türkiye)
• December 13th, 9:30 p.m.: Nak Roselare (Belgium) – Kienzenrzyn Kozle (Poland)

4th matchday

• December 19th, 7:00 p.m.: Kizenrgin Kozle (Poland) – Zirat Bank (Turkey)
• December 20th, 9:30 p.m.: Nak Roselare (Belgium) – Olympiacos SFP

5th matchday

• January 10th, 5:00 p.m.: Zirat Bank (Turkey) – Nak Roselare (Belgium)
• November 1st, 7:30 p.m.: Olympiacos SFP – Kienzenrzyn Kozle (Poland)

6th matchday

• January 17th, 9:00 p.m.: Zirat Bank (Türkiye) – Olympiacos SFP
• January 17th, 9:30 p.m.: Kienzenrzyn Kozle (Poland) – Nak Roselare (Belgium)

Olympiacos could not resist the powerful Novara and was defeated 2-3 at “Melina Merkouri” for her first match Phase of 16 of the Challenge Cup.

The “Red and Whites” will hope for a miracle in the second game in Italy, because with a corresponding win they can send the pair to the “golden” set, but with a 3-1 or 3-0 win they will move up the quarterfinals.

In the first set, Olympiacos Piraeus’ weakness and sluggishness allowed the Italian team to easily get to 0-1, taking an early lead of four points and only being threatened by a block from Fariole at 16-18.

In the second round they took the lead again with an ace from Carraro with 10:9, Novara led with 20:22, but Emanouilidou cut it to 21:22 and equalized with an out from Akimova. Mleinkova made it 23-22 and 24-22 after a rally, only for Nizetich to lose her serve to make it 24-23. Tani played against Mleinkova again, she didn’t finish the phase but ended the set with a block together with Emmanuilidou.

In the third set, Olympiacos took a strong lead, going 6-3 with a block from Nizetich and 9-6 with a block from Emmanuilidou. 11-7 was scored by Mleinkova’s attack and 13-8 by Nizetich’s place. Novara reduced the score to 15-13 with an ace in Nizetich. 18-15, with Nizetich attacking from the back zone. Errors from Koumboura and Carraro brought the score to 20-20, Nizetich 21-20, Tsiritsela 21-21, Bartolucci 21-22, Emmanouilidou 22-22. Micheli double substitution. Mleinkova lost her serve 22-23. Nicetich 23-23. Bonifacio 23-24 and Akimova 23-25.

Olympiacos led 7-4 in the fourth set, but Novara made it 11-12 with a layup from Sakmari. The double change with Tsitsigianni and Tanis on the field turned the 13:18 into 16:18. Block by Mleinkova 18-19, single block by Fariol 19-19. Tsitsigianni 20-20, Tsitsigianni 21-21, Bossio’s pass 22-21, Fariol’s block 23-21, Akimova 23-22, Mleinkova 24-22, Nizetich 25-22.

Olympiacos started the tiebreak with Tanis and Tsitsigianni. Novara led 1:5 and Carraro, Koombura entered the field. With the score at 1:7, Miceli called a second timeout, but the difference did not decrease until the final score was 6:15.

• The sentences: 2-3 (20-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 6-15) in 117′
• Olympiakos’ points came from 1 ace, 61 attacks, 11 blocks and 26 opponent errors and Novara’s points came from 4 aces, 70 attacks, 6 blocks and 30 opponent errors
• OLYMPIACOS SFP (Lorenzo Micelli): Nizetich 16 (15/36 Ref., 1 Block, 50% Sub. – 27% Excellent), Carraro 3 (1/1 Ref., 1 Ace, 1 Block), Emmanuilidou 7 (5/9 Ref . ., 2 blocks), Koumbura 14 (13/44 ref., 1 block), Fariole 8 (5/14 ref., 3 blocks), Mleinkova 22 (19/44 ref., 3 blocks, 50% ref. – 24% excellent) / Artakianou (l, 50% sub. – 38% excellent), Tsitsigianni 3 (3/6 ff.), Tanis
• NOVARA (Lorenzo Bernardi): Szacmari 14 (13/30 ff., 1 block, 55% sub. – 39% excellent), Bosio, Bossetti 8 (7/26 ff., 1 block, 56% sub. – 17% excellent) , Chiritsela 18 (14/25 ff., 2 aces, 2 blocks), Bonifacio 9 (7/14 ff., 1 ace, 1 block), Akimova 31 (29/59 ff., 1 ace, 1 block) / Fersino (l, 73% below 40% excellent), Bartolucci, De Nardi, Buis

Round of 16 results

FIRST GAMES

• Olympiacos (Greece) – Novara (Italy) 2-3 (20-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 6-15)
• November 28th 8:00 p.m Linz/Steg (Austria) – Niliüfer (Türkiye)
• November 28th 8:00 p.m ZOK (Serbia) – Voluntari (Romania)
• November 29th 17:00 Panathinaikos (Greece) – Dinamo (Romania)
• November 29th 9:00 p.m Avarca Menorca (Spain) – Neptune (France)
• November 29th 9:30 p.m Dinamo (Croatia) – PAOK (Greece)
• November 30th 19:30 o’clock Galatasaray (Türkiye) – Wiesbaden (Germany)
• November 30th 8:00 p.m Ted Obrenovac (Serbia) – Lugoz (Romania)

SECOND GAMES

• 12.05. 6:00 p.m Dinamo (Romania) – Panathinaikos (Greece)
• 12.05. 6:00 p.m PAOK (Greece) – Dinamo (Croatia)
• 12.05. 9:00 p.m Neptune (France) – Avarca Menorca (Spain)
• 12.06. 17:00 o’clock Niliüfer (Türkiye) – Linz/Steg (Austria)
• 12.06. 17:00 o’clock Volundari (Romania) – ZOK (Serbia)
• 12.06. 6:30 p.m Lugoz (Romania) – Ted Obrenovac (Serbia)
• 12.06. 8:30 p.m Wiesbaden (Germany) – Galatasaray (Türkiye)
• 12.06. 9:00 p.m Novara (Italy) – Olympiacos (Greece)

The pairs of the quarterfinals

1. Olympiacos (Greece) or Novara (Italy) – ZOK (Serbia) or Volundari (Romania)
2. Dinamo (Croatia) or PAOK (Greece) – Galatasaray (Türkiye) or Wiesbaden (Germany)
3. Panathinaikos (Greece) or Dinamo (Romania) – Avarca Menorca (Spain) or Neptun (France)
4. Ted Obrenovac (Serbia) or Lugoz (Romania) – Linz/Steg (Austria) or Niliufer Belediyespor (Turkey)

The pairs of the semi-finals

• Winner 1 – Winner 2
• Winner 3 – Winner 4