Olympiacos take down PAOK in Thessaloniki
GREEK A1 VOLLEY LEAGUE - FINALS (GAME 2)
| PAOK | 1 - 3 | Olympiacos |
|---|---|---|
| (25 -23) (21 -25) (17 - 25) (15 - 25) |
Olympiacos defeated PAOK 1:3 set in Thessaloniki to move within one win of their second consecutive Volley League title.
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Olympiacos are just one win away from claiming their second consecutive Volley League title after defeating PAOK 1:3 set in game two of the Finals series. Despite losing the first set 25:23, the Erythrolefki recorded three-unanswered set wins (21:25, 17:25, 15:25) to take a 2:0 series lead ahead of their game three clash in Piraeus on Thursday. There, the Reds will look to win the 2019 league crown in front of their home fans.
Jeroen Rauwerdink led Olympiacos’ attacking game with 22 points with Todor Aleksiev and Gavin Schmitt adding 17 and 16 points, respectively. Niels Klapwijk led PAOK with 23 points, four of which were aces.
THE MATCH
Olympiacos controlled the first set early on, but could not pull away as the the score was level late on at 19:19. PAOK then took a two-point lead (21:19), which held at 22:20 before Klapwijk gave the hosts a three-point lead at 23:20. Olympiacos fought back within one 23:22, but Klapwijk answered again with two points of his own to give PAOK the 1:0 set lead.
Olympiacos took an early lead in the second set (4:8) with PAOK coming back to level things at nine apiece. The stalemate continued at 11:11 and 17:17 before Olympiacos went on a decisive 4-0 run to pull ahead at 17:21. PAOK were unable to recover and Olympiacos marched on to a 21:25 set victory to level the match at 1:1.
The third set remained a close one at 12:12, but Olympiacos put together a run to go ahead 13:16 and then 14:20. PAOK’s mistakes proved costly as Olympiacos continued to increase their lead and win the third set rather easily with a 17:25 scoreline.
Olympiacos had the momentum with a 1:2 set lead and the visitors showed their dominance in the fourth and final set. Similar to the third set, Olympiacos took full advantage of PAOK’s mistakes and increased their lead to 10:14. With Rauwerdink and Aleksiev leading the way, Olympiacos cruised to a 15:25 set victory to win the match 1:3.
