Women’s Volley League: Panathinaikos defeated AO Thira 3-1 in the semifinals

Panathinaikos qualified for the semi-finals of the Women’s Volley League. The Greens prevailed for the second time in a few days against AO Thira with 3:1 sets and now their opponent in the quartet.

Panathinaikos will know their opponent on Sunday afternoon when the match between PAOK and AEK is over.

Panathinaikos led 5-1 in the first set, forcing Costas Papadopoulos to quickly call his first time-out. With Athena Papafotiou feeding all of her teammates, the Greens increased the difference at 1-0 to a double-digit number at 25-13.

As margins tightened, AO Thiras risked off the service line, gaining control after the initial 3-0 to level the tie in 1-1 sets 25-17.

With Grothes and Chatziefstratiadou in the lead, Panathinaikos took early control of the third set (9-4) to secure their ticket to the semifinals with 25-16 and 2-1 sets.

The fourth set, despite being procedural in nature, Branko Gates and Costas Papadopoulos maintained their basic formation on the field, with AO Thiras taking a 9-5 lead but Panathinaikos passing 14-13 before mid-set blocks by Eva Hadava. Game leader Maret Grotesht made the final 25-22 for a 3-1 set with an attack from the “6” position.

Panathinaikos – AO Thiras 3-1

The sentences: 25-13, 17-25, 25-16, 25-22 at 92′

* Panathinaikos’ points came from opponents’ 7 aces, 54 attacks, 11 blocks and 20 errors and AO Thira’s opponents’ 3 aces, 41 attacks, 12 blocks and 20 errors.

PANATHINAIKOS AO (Branko Gates): Chatziefstratiadou 12 (9/17 ff., 3 blocks), Konstantinou 15 (12/35 ff., 2 aces, 1 block), Cross 10 (5/10 ff., 1 ace, 4 blocks), Grothes 17 (15 / 39 run, 1 ace, 1 block, 70% min – 70% excellent), Papafotiou 1 (1/1 run), Hadava 14 (10/26 run, 3 aces, 1 block, 45% min – 21% excellent ) / Roga (l, 80% sub. – 80% excellent), Stepanenko 2 (2/4 ff.), Metaxa 1 (1 block).

AO THIRAS (Costas Papadopoulos): Holston 10 (8/27 ff., 2 blocks), Abbott 11 (10/28 ff., 1 block, 33% min. – 33% excellent), Dialla 7 (4/9 ff., 3 blocks), Konstantinidou 5 (1/4 run, 3 aces, 1 block), Mitrovic 14 (12/37 run, 2 blocks, 38% inferior – 31% excellent), Argyriou 9 (6/12 run, 3 blocks) / Artakianou (l, 42 % under – 32% excellent), Adamopoulou, Drossopoulou.