Greece’s women’s volleyball team put together one of their best performances of the year to defeat Puerto Rico three sets to one, earning their first points at the Volleyball World Championship in Thailand as a result.
Apostolos Oikonomou’s side mustered a great effort against the world no.18 to secure the win, keeping their hopes of reaching the Round of 16 alive.
The Greeks put together a strong display, led by players like Martha Anthouli, captain Olga Strantzali and Effrosyni Bakodimou, emerging victorious with a score of 25-19, 25-13, 23-25, and 25-14 in the four sets.
They do find themselves still outside the top two spots in their group after France played out a five-set thriller with Brazil.
Despite the Brazilians winning, the points system awards a point to the lose in five-set matches which means France sits one point ahead of Greece in second.
It sets up a blockbuster clash between the Greeks and the French in their final group game on Tuesday, wherein the winner will secure a place in the next round.
Oikonomou heaped praise on his team and stressed belief is high as they now turn their attention to France.
“It was an incredible performance beyond the winning result. The key was our service, we put pressure on specific athletes and we had a specific tactical plan. We found rhythm in the block-defence and I want to congratulate the girls. They believed in the plan and themselves and put on a magical performance,” he said to media post-match.
“What I tell the girls is that they need to know their limits. They have more to give, we have a match against France in which we can make the dream come true. This victory belongs to all of Greek volleyball. All of Greek volleyball is happy and the best is yet to come.”
Group C table:
1. Brazil 3 points (1 win, 0 losses, 6-2 sets)
2. France 4 points (1 win, 0 losses, 5-4 sets)
3. Greece 3 points (1 win, 1 loss, 3-4 sets)
4. Puerto Rico 0 points (0 wins, 2 losses, 2-6 sets)
Source: AMNA
