Olympiacos women volleyball team started the Challenge Cup successfully winning Logrono 3-2 sets. The Reds proved the enormous potential confirming that they will also have a leading role this year. Olympiacos won the 3-2 set and has the advantage for the qualification to the next round. Hippe was the top scorer with 20 points. 

Key action: 

Olympiacos was the leader of the first set as it preceded 5-0 and 16-8 before the second technical timeout. It kept this margin and won the first set 25-20. In the second set, Logrono took the lead 8-4 but Olympiacos tied twice (11-11, 14-14). Although the Spanish team preceded 16-14, Olympiacos went ahead 22-23. In the rest of the set, the two teams continued in a draw until Logrono won 31-29. 

The ‘’Reds’’ has a stable performance in the third set, kept it under control and beat 25-19. The Piraeus team lost the fourth set but it proved its potential in the fifth one winning 15-10. The rematch will take place at the Rentis ‘’M. Merkouri’’ sport hall on 9 January. 

Match stats: 

The sets: 20-25 (22΄), 31-29 (30΄), 19-25 (25’), 25-17 (23΄), 10-15 (16΄)

1st set: 5-8, 8-16, 13-21, 20-25

2nd set: 8-5, 16-14, 21-18, 31-29

3rd set: 4-8, 12-16, 15-21, 19-25

4th set: 8-5, 16-9, 21-12, 25-17

5th set: 5-3, 7-10, 9-12, 10-15

Statistics: 

Logrono (Daniel Gallardo Pujado): Gritzbach 11 (9/21 attacks, 1 ace, 1 block), Martins 1 (1/3 attacks), Edelman 5 (1/7 attacks, 1 ace, 1 block), Pereira (17, 16/44 attacks, 1 ace), Gonzalez 14 (11/46 attacks, 1 ace, 2 blocks), Pejkovic 6 (4/10 attacks, 2 blocks), Llabres (L, 45% pos-24% exc.), Rodriguez (L, 71% pos-53& exc.), Figueroa, Escamilla, Portero 12 (12/32 attacks), Rangel 4 (4/5 attacks)

Olympiacos (Branko Kovacevic): Giota 15 (5/14 attacks, 1 ace, 9 blocks), Niemer 15 (12/40 attacks, 61% pos-48% exc., 1 ace, 2 blocks), Poll 16 (14/38 attacks, 60% pos-55% exc., 1 ace, 1 block), Lamprousi 10 (7/16 attacks, 1 ace, 2 blocks), Christodoulou 4, Hippe 20 (18/45 attacks, 2 blocks), Konomi (L, 58% pos-47% exc.), Kokkinaki (L, 50% pos-50% exc.), Nomikou 2 (1/3 attacks, 1 block), Papadopoulou

Quotes: 

The Head Coach of the team, Kovacevic said: ‘’Although Logrono is not a popular team, we expected that it will be a good one with many Spanish players. It was a strong game and I think that we could have finished it earlier, especially in the second set. However, we are happy with the victory. In the second game, we are waiting our fans’ support and hope that it will be easier for us to win.’’

The captain of the team, Christodoulou stated: ‘’It was a great performance for the first European game. Of course, we have some ups and downs which is reasonable but we are satisfied with the final result. We expect from the fans to support us and qualify to the next round.’’