Luxembourg, February 18, 2020.  Olympiacos Piraeus made a decisive step towards advancing to the semifinals of the women’s CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup 2020. In Tuesday’s only match of the quarterfinal stage in the European Cups, the Greek standout celebrated with a four-set away victory at Swietelsky Bekescsaba.

At the Bekescsabai Varosi Sportcsarnok in Hungary, Olympiacos came back from a set down to hammer out a 3-1 (24-26, 25-23, 25-19, 25-23) win and gain a solid advantage ahead of the second match in series, set to take place in Greece on March 3.

With Saskia Hippe on fire at the net (10 points), Olympiacos were well in control of the first set, reaching a triple set point at 24-21, but Swietelsky mounted a furious comeback with five in a row to take the lead. Capitalising on a number of mistakes by the home side, the Greek team won the very hard-fought second set by a narrow 25-23, despite a nine-point set tally by Swietelsky’s Karla Klaric. Olympiacos dominated set three for a convincing 25-19 win to step ahead in the match, but the Hungarians gave them a run for their money in the fourth, when the tough battle on the court ended in favour of the visiting team by another narrow 25-23. Saskia Hippe and Karla Klaric scored a match high 26 points each. Olympiacos’s Katerina Zakchaiou impressed with six kill blocks out of 15 points.

Branko Kovacevic, head coach of Olympiacos Piraeus: "It was a strong and close game for both teams. There was a very nice atmosphere on the court. It was a very important result for us in view of the second match. Our defence and blocking at critical moments were what led us to victory. Certainly the second game will be equally as difficult and we hope our fans will create an even better atmosphere and we all together will celebrate the qualification to the semifinals."

Katerina Zakchaiou, middle blocker of Olympiacos Piraeus: "It was a difficult game. We fought seriously from the start and, with strong blocks and important digs at key points, we got the win. We have an advantage but we have to fight hard in the second match as well to reach the semifinals."

Vasja Samec Lipicer, head coach of Swietelsky Bekescsaba: “The level of the match has grown to what you would expect from an international competition, with the fans enjoying the action very match, but unfortunately, there were some problems with the refereeing. I do not want to use this as an excuse for our loss, since we have to deal with the reality. The opponent blocked well and read our game very well, and we did not serve well enough. We need to be perfect all the way to achieve a good result in Greece.”

For more info, go to the CEV Challenge Cup 2020 section.