Having a leading performance, Olympiacos won Targoviste in Romania and secured its qualification to the final-8 of the Challenge Cup. After defeating the first game, the ‘’Reds’’ were very concentrated and calm and proved that were fairly finalists in the competition of the last year. It overturned the situation formed by defeating 3-2 in the first match in Renti and qualified. Poll with 23 points, and Hippe with 20 were the top scorers.

Key action:

In the first set, Olympiacos started strongly and preceded quickly with 5-2 thanks to three consecutive aces by Hippe and went ahead with +5 in the first technical timeout. In the rest of the set, the "red-white" kept the control and won 25-17. 

Targoviste was equalizing!

In the second set, Targovishte tried to react and had the lead in its longest run. Olympiacos went with -6 in the second technical timeout, stayed back 22-16 and Targoviste reached 25-16 with which equalized to 1-1 sets.

Immediate "answer" to Legend!

The third set was balanced until 17-17. Then, Olympiacos led with Christodoulou scoring a block and an ace. The ‘’Reds’’ dominated but Targoviste tried to stay close (22-19). Poll and Hippe scored two points (25-21) and the Greek team made 2-1 set. 

And it continues to the round "8"!

Given that he needed a set to qualify and having imposed his game, the ‘’Legend’’ was also very strong in the 4th set. It quickly preceded 4-1 and arrived at 17-11 after Hippe's attack. Olympiacos kept the lead (13-17, 14-18, 17-20) and although it dropped to 19-20, Targovirite kept his temper. Katerina Giota scored with a block for 21-19 and Poll did 22-20. Targoviste equaled for the first time in 22-22 but Olympiacos prevailed in the rest of the set. It ran a 3-0 streak and won the set and the game. Hippe did 24-22 after a great defence by Kokkinaki. The ‘’Reds’’ secured the win and the qualification with an ace (25-22). In the next round, Olympiacos faces the winner of the fight between Pfeffingen (Switzerland) and Bacău Romania (Romania). 

Match stats: 

The sets: 17-25 (24'), 25-16 (25'), 21-25 (27'), 22-25 (31')

1st set: 3-8, 13-16, 15-21, 17-25

2nd set: 8-7, 16-10, 21-12, 25-16

3rd set: 6-8, 16-15, 19-21, 21-25

4th set: 3-8, 11-16, 19-21, 22-25

Statistics: 

Targoviste (Gillermo): Hroncekova 6 (4/13 attacks, 1 ace, 1 block), Smith, Fairs 16 (11/30 attacks, 2 aces, 3 blocks, 19% pos-16% exc.), Trica 16 (14/34 attacks, 2 blocks, 36% pos-14% exc.), Otasevic 1 (1 ace), Collar 18 (17/39 attacks, 1ace), Durr (L, 65% pos-26% exc.), Souza, Rosca, Calota 5 (2/4 attacks, 1 ace, 2 blocks), Marciu 1 (1 ace), Wojcieska 3 (1 ace, 2 blocks)

Olympiacos (Branko Kovacevic): Giota 6 (3/4 attacks, 3 blocks), Niemer 9 (8/23 attacks, 1 ace, 4 blocks, 39% pos-21% exc.), Poll 23 (17/36 attacks, 2 aces, 4 blocks, 39% pos-21& exc.), Lamprousi 10 (610 attacks, 1 ace, 3 blocks), Christodoulou 6 (3/4 attacks, 2 aces, 1 block), Hippe 20 (15/47 attacks, 4 aces, 1 block), Konomi (L, 11% pos-0% exc.), Kokkinaki (L, 25% pos-25% exc.), Konstantinidou, Vlachaki 1 (1/2 attacks), Papadopoulou

Quotes: 

The Head Coach of the team, Kovacevic said: ‘’We expected a tough game between two teams with similar quality. We are very happy with the way we played in these two games because we don’t have games like these in our championship. This was an excellent experience for us and I really believe that the audience in Romania and in our headquarters saw two very good games.’’

Irini Kokkinaki said at the press conference following the match: "I am very pleased that my team won this game. Both teams really fought it. There was a very nice atmosphere which is very important.’’

Pol said at osfp.gr: "I'm very proud of the team. It was really a team effort, we probably needed a little more pressure than we lost the first game. I'm really speechless. We won without even going to the tiebreak. I really thank you for having me in the team ".

Stella Christodoulou: "Our only goal was to qualify"

Stella Christodoulou stated: "We definitely made a better appearance than this one in our home. Despite the ups and downs, the team managed to win a very big victory. I think that a defeat if it is handled correctly can make them very good and this happened with us today. I hope we have a follow-up to the next round.’’