Olympiacos did the first step for the qualification to the round “16th “ of the Challenge Cup winning against Hapoel Kfar Saba with 3-0 in the first match held at the Rentis sporting hall. The Reds fought, had the control over the game, got a clear victory and gained the advantage of the qualification in the view of the second match in Israel on Thursday (19/4). The team needs to win two sets to secure the “ticket” for the next phase. In the next phase, the qualified team faces the winner of the match “UTE Budapest-Yenisei Krasnoyarsk”. 

Key data:

The sets: 3-0: 25-20 (23'), 25-15 (24'), 25-14 (20')

1st set: 8-6, 16-15, 21-17, 25-20

2nd set: 8-6, 16-13, 21-14, 25-15

3rd set: 8-7, 16-8, 21-11, 25-14

Squads:

Olympiacos (Branko Kovacevic): Scott 16, Lamprousi 7, Christodoulou 5, Hippe 17, Zakchaiou 12, Totsidou 9, Konomi (L), Kakouratou (L), Kalantaridou, Zivojinovic, Xanthopoulou

Hapoel Kfar Saba: Devash 5, Hroncekova 6, Velikiy 7, De Carvalho 4, Kijakova 8, Correa 1, Shir (L), Ben-haim, Chodorov

Statements:

The Head coach Branko Kovacevic stated: "It was a good game for us and it’s very important. Since the start of the second set, we played at a very high rate and did our best season game. Certainly, we can improve and we will continue to work hard. There are important games in the league and the second match against Hapoel where we have to play even better. It’s an experienced team with lots of international players and the game won’t be easy for us”. 

Saskia Hippe mentioned: "Today, we played very well. We were focused and are very happy with the win. We pressed them with the serve and the block which helped us to win. We did the first step for the qualification but we want two sets. We will be very serious in the second game so as to qualify to the next phase’’.