Piraeus, Greece, June 26, 2019. Romania twice came back from a set down to hold off Greece for a 3-2 (20-25, 30-28, 20-25, 25-23, 15-10) win in the Piraeus suburb of Rentis in the first leg of the 2019 Men's European Silver League final, gaining a huge advantage ahead of the return match on Sunday in Alexandria.
With Greece having dominated the first set and taken a 9-5 lead in the second, a change of opposites by Romania coach Danut Pascu, with Ciprian Matei coming on for Laurentiu Lica, was critical to the outcome of the match. Greece remained in control and the hosts were first to reach set point with two to spare at 24-22, but Romania cancelled both as well as the next four to finish the set first chance they got at 30-28 and tie the game at 1-1.
Highlights:
Again an easy third set by Greece was countered in the fourth by Romania, who took a quick lead and gradually widened it to seven points at 19-12 after piling on the pressure from the service line and creating all sorts of problems for the Greek reception. But with setter Dmytro Filippov serving, Greece made a six-point run to close in at 19-19 and get back into the game, first tying the score at 21-21 and remaining so until 23-23. It was all in vain, however, and Romania took the back-to-back points they needed to force a fifth set.
It was no contest in the tie-break, as Romania led from the very beginning and were in control throughout, breaking away after the side-switch for a comfortable finish. But it was not just the entrance of Matei that changed the course of the game. Mihai Gheorghita and Rares Balean who also came off the bench in the second set both made a great contribution to Romania's efforts.
Despite missing a set and a half, Matei with 17 points and Balean with 16 were Romania's top scorers. Nikos Zoupani's match-high of 22 for Greece proved just not enough. And when the final count was in, Romania had outserved Greece with 10 aces to 6 - eight of the vistors' aces from Cristian Bartha alone.
“It was a very difficult game," said Romania coach Danut Pascu. "The ambiance and support of the fans for Greece was great, but it hindered our efforts. I am happy that we never gave up at any stage of the match and we reached a win based on team effort. Things will be different in the return leg. Today we had no pressure and played freely - and this will not be the case in Romania. What is certain is that we must produce the same energy on the court to keep our chances against Greece.”
“We had a lot of opportunities to take both the second and fourth sets but we should remain proud that we have reached this stage," said Greece captain Georgios Petreas. “There is a sense of bitterness for the defeat, but this loss will make us stronger and we will be going to Romania on Sunday to claim the gold medal there.”
Click here for more on the competition.