A well determined Greek team defeated Romania in straight sets (25-15, 25-23, 28-26) in the opening match of the second weekend in the 2009 Men’s European League.
The match was played in Kalamata amid oppressive heat, in which the Greek side responded more quickly than the travelling Romanians.
Greece overwhelmed its opponents in the first set, taking an early lead and with efficient attacking allowing Greece to sail to an easy 25-15 first set win.
Romania piled on the pressure with their serving in the second set, leading throughout until the score moved to 21:22, when Greece scored three crucial consecutive points.
This provided a slight buffer, opening set-point at 24:22, before Greece ended the set 25-23.
The Romanians led once more in the third set – by as much as three points at the second technical time-out – but Greece again came back to win decisive points and tie the score at 18 and then open a 20:18 lead.
Romania held on to cancel three match-balls of the Greeks, but the home team capitalised on a long service by Romanian captain Bogdan Olteanu and a strong serve by his counterpart Nikos Roumeliotis, which led to a block on the net by Giorgos Petreas for the final 28-26.
Laurentiu Lica of Rumania was top scorer of the match, with 13 points while team mate Olteanu adding a further 11.
Todor Baev, back after missing most of the first weekend due to injury, emerged as the top scorer for the Greeks with 12 points, closely followed by Theoklitos Karypidis (11) and Roumeliotis (10).
Romania outplayed Greece in serving, attacking, receiving and blocking, but Greece capitalised on the 29 unforced errors of the visiting team, that made the difference in the final score.
“If we do not improve our blocking and defending, we cannot face the future with optimism. If we do manage this, we will bring our game to a totally new level,” said the head coach of Greece, Costas Arseniadis, after the match.
“This is our big challenge in view of the European Championships, but I don’t know if we will have enough time until then,” he added.
In the women’s tie, Bulgaria walked over Greece in straight sets 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-11) with the Greeks never appearing in contention.
Disappointed Greek captain Nikoletta Koutouxidou said, “Today was a really bad day for us. We played really bad in everything – tactics, technique and psychology, especially after seeing that nothing went as we wanted during the game. Tomorrow is another day for us. We will try to be better in each element.”
The men will face off again against Romania while Greece’s women will play Bulgaria again on Monday morning (Melbourne time) as round two of the European League concludes.
A well determined Greek team defeated Romania in straight sets (25-15, 25-23, 28-26) in the opening match of the second weekend in the 2009 Men’s European League.
The match was played in Kalamata amid oppressive heat, in which the Greek side responded more quickly than the travelling Romanians.
Greece overwhelmed its opponents in the first set, taking an early lead and with efficient attacking allowing Greece to sail to an easy 25-15 first set win.
Romania piled on the pressure with their serving in the second set, leading throughout until the score moved to 21:22, when Greece scored three crucial consecutive points.
This provided a slight buffer, opening set-point at 24:22, before Greece ended the set 25-23.
The Romanians led once more in the third set – by as much as three points at the second technical time-out – but Greece again came back to win decisive points and tie the score at 18 and then open a 20:18 lead.
Romania held on to cancel three match-balls of the Greeks, but the home team capitalised on a long service by Romanian captain Bogdan Olteanu and a strong serve by his counterpart Nikos Roumeliotis, which led to a block on the net by Giorgos Petreas for the final 28-26.
Laurentiu Lica of Rumania was top scorer of the match, with 13 points while team mate Olteanu adding a further 11.
Todor Baev, back after missing most of the first weekend due to injury, emerged as the top scorer for the Greeks with 12 points, closely followed by Theoklitos Karypidis (11) and Roumeliotis (10).
Romania outplayed Greece in serving, attacking, receiving and blocking, but Greece capitalised on the 29 unforced errors of the visiting team, that made the difference in the final score.
“If we do not improve our blocking and defending, we cannot face the future with optimism. If we do manage this, we will bring our game to a totally new level,” said the head coach of Greece, Costas Arseniadis, after the match.
“This is our big challenge in view of the European Championships, but I don’t know if we will have enough time until then,” he added.
In the women’s tie, Bulgaria walked over Greece in straight sets 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-11) with the Greeks never appearing in contention.
Disappointed Greek captain Nikoletta Koutouxidou said, “Today was a really bad day for us. We played really bad in everything – tactics, technique and psychology, especially after seeing that nothing went as we wanted during the game. Tomorrow is another day for us. We will try to be better in each element.”
The men will face off again against Romania while Greece’s women will play Bulgaria again on Monday morning (Melbourne time) as round two of the European League concludes.