22/08/2015 22:10
Greece complete perfect home weekend with second straight-set win over Georgia
2015 CEV Volleyball European League - Women
Megalopolis, Greece, August 22, 2015. The hosts of Greece claimed also their second home match with Georgia by three sets to none (25-14, 25-17, 25-9) to complete a perfect weekend of action in the fourth and next-to-last preliminary round of the 2015 CEV Volleyball European League – Women. Greece improved their win-loss record to 5-3 to claim second place in the standing and set their sight on a spot in the semis. The home heroines delivered a very solid performance also in their second matchup with the young team of Georgia which nevertheless further improved on what they had shown on Friday.
Greece caught a good start with Evangelia Merteki standing behind the service line (5:1). Georgia stormed back to draw level at 10 all but Eleni Kiosi claimed a very important rally to restore Greece’s leadership in the match (12:10); Greece’s team captain was well supported by all other home players as they moved the score to 19:13 before Evangelia Chantava’s spike finished the opening set at 25-14 for the hosts.
The second set followed a different plot. Ann Kalandadze and Svetlana Sosnovskaya helped Georgia set the pace in the early stages with the visitors claiming a four-point lead at 6:2. However, Greece was definitely not willing to give in that easily. The hosts restored their supremacy at 9:7 with three service aces by Evangelia Chantava and after that they widened their lead up to five points at 20:15. The last point of the set was cashed by the eventual MVP of this match, Evangelia Merteki (25-17).
The third set was a way more one-sided. Aikaterina Giota’s block set the score at 7:3 for Greece and after that Anthi Vasilantonaki and Eleni Kiosi looked just unstoppable, so Greece called for the second technical time-out by the landslide score of 16:6. Vasilantonaki finished it off at 25-9 and this way Greece secured their second 3:0 home victory over Georgia, this way making a huge step forward on their way to the semis.
The mentor of Greece, Ioannis Kalmazidis said after the match: “We knew that we could beat Georgia, but we also wanted to secure two clear victories. The girls were focussed and they managed to win easily by setting the pace of the match right from the start. After the results of the other matches tomorrow we will have a better picture of what to expect in the semis.”
The coach of Georgia’s national team, Khatuna Giorgadze said: “There is not much to say, the national team of Greece was stronger than us and they deserved the victory. By participating in the European League our players are getting valuable experience for the future. Good luck to Greece for the semis.”
The captain of Greece Eleni Kiosi said: “We are playing for all of our country people and with the next matches we will be trying it hard to achieve our goals in this competition.”
Lastly the captain of Georgia, Ana Tvauri said: “These matches are a good experience for our young team, and they help us to evolve and improve. We wish all the best to the Greek team and I reckon they have a good shot at the semis.”
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