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