Reds win volleyball Super Cup
Volleyball champion Olympiakos won the season’s first title on Friday by beating Panathinaikos 3-1 in the Super Cup final on Santorini. Neither of the teams seemed ready for the new season, set to start this coming weekend, but both offered the 1,000 fans, who filled the stands to capacity on this Aegean island’s court, some beautiful volleyball. Panathinaikos was the better team in the first set with its good reception and applying pressure through its serve, to win the set 25-18. The Greens also led 6-2 in the second set before Olympiakos started responding. The Reds went 12-9 up thanks to their improving block. The game turned in their favor and they won the set easily 25-15. The two sides were level up to 15-15 in the third set when the Olympiakos block started once more giving Panathinaikos a hard time,leading to the Greens losing the set 25-21. In the fourth, Olympiakos scored six unanswered points to lead 9-6 and not relinquish its advantage once, for a 25-18 victory that gave them the Super Cup. Dimitris Tzourits won the Most Valuable Player award as he scored 29 points in his first official game with Olympiakos as an opposite. «I did not win the game by myself,» he stated afterwards. Up to last season, Tzourits used to play as a blocker. Panathinaikos captain Sotiris Pantaleon suggested that his team was «happy just to have managed to field a side here,» referring to the cup-winner’s financial problems all summer. Panathinaikos and Apollon Kalamarias will be the teams to start the new league on Friday, facing off in Thessaloniki.
