Men’s Volley League, Panathinaikos-Olympiacos 3-1: The Greens took the first step toward the title

Panathinaikos has taken a crucial first step toward claiming the title in the Volley League, showcasing an impressive 61% success rate in their attacks during the final match. This percentage might have been even higher if not for a drop to 39% in the third set.

The team’s outside hitters were particularly effective, with a collective performance of 35 successful attacks out of 58 attempts (Protopsaltis: 10/14, Van Garderen: 11/21, Nielsen: 14/23). Despite suffering 32 service errors, Panathinaikos dominated in various statistical aspects—aside from errors.

Interestingly, Panathinaikos also performed better in their serving game, registering 6 aces compared to Olympiacos’s 7. However, the final tally is somewhat misleading since 4 of the 7 aces scored by Olympiacos came during the third set.

Final Scores: 3-1 (25-17, 25-20, 16-25, 25-21)

In terms of scoring, Panathinaikos earned points through 6 aces, 44 successful attacks, 9 blocks, and capitalized on 32 errors from their opponents, while Olympiacos ONEX scored through 7 aces, 35 attacks, 4 blocks, and took advantage of 37 errors made by Panathinaikos.

PANATHINAIKOS (Dimitris Andreopoulos): Van Garderen: 12 points (9/21 attacks, 1 ace, 1 block, 50% reception – 27% excellent), Elgert: 1 point (1 block), Gasman: 9 points (5/9 attacks, 2 aces, 2 blocks), Nielsen: 16 points (14/23 attacks, 2 blocks), Voulkidis: 7 points (4/7 attacks, 2 aces, 1 block), Protopsaltis: 12 points (10/14 attacks, 1 ace, 1 block, 31% reception – 25% excellent) / Handrinos (libero, 41% reception – 35% excellent), Kasabalas, Frangos: 2 points (2/2 attacks), Kontostathis (libero).

OLYMPIACOS ONEX (Andrea Gardini): Pagent: 8 points (6/6 attacks, 2 blocks), Perin: 15 points (12/23 attacks, 3 aces, 47% reception – 47% excellent), Koumentakis: 3 points (3/13 attacks, 38% reception – 29% excellent), Travitsa: 3 points (1/1 attack, 1 ace, 1 block), Atanasevich: 14 points (12/27 attacks, 2 aces), Armenakis / Giavras (libero, 40% reception – 13% excellent), Kostopoulos, Papaggelopoulos: 3 points (1/1 attack, 1 ace, 1 block).