Greece - HVL 2008/2009

Can someone tell me why AO Kifisias are so bad this year and why they have 2 games behind?

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Can someone tell me why AO Kifisias are so bad this year and why they have 2 games behind?

21/01/2009
AO Kifisias - AONS Milon : 3-2 (21-25, 25-15, 25-23, 17-25, 16-14) stats

Now they have 1 match less.
Two matches of AO Kifisias were postponed because their middle blocker Milan Markovic was away with Montenegro National Team for the World Championship Qualification Tournament in Azerbaijan.

The reason why AO Kifisias are so bad this year is because the whole team has changed, except 3 players. They lost their coach, Kostas Arseniadis, and their best player, the Brazilian outside hitter, Denison Sena. They are both in Iraklis now. The other starter outside hitter, the talented Argentinean Federico Pereyra, also left. In order to replace them, they signed two Ukrainian outside hitters, Dmitriy Vdovin and Oleksiy Gutor. Not a wise choise, because they don’t play very good, so far. The other new foreign players Zoel dos Santos Monteiro (opposite) and Milan Markovic (middle blocker) are good ones. I don’t think this season’s players are much worse than last year’s. The big difference is the chemistry within the team. Last season, there was a tremendous bond and chemistry between the players. This year, this isn’t happening. Coach Drikos has to try more to improve the team’s performance.

can someone tell me how's playing TINE URNAUT in Olympiakos?
next year he'll return to Copra Piacenza, so if he's enough good we can confirm him in our roster

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can someone tell me how's playing TINE URNAUT in Olympiakos?
next year he'll return to Copra Piacenza, so if he's enough good we can confirm him in our roster

He is playing very well so far. He is a very good attacker, though he has some problems with his reception. But he is getting better and better in this area. I am sure he will improve his game further under the guidance of Anders Kristiansson.

I think he will be ready to play in Italy next year. But not in Copra Piacenza. It will be wiser to give him in another Italian team on loan for one year. And get him back for the 2010-2011 season.

Quote from Shadow

He is playing very well so far. He is a very good attacker, though he has some problems with his reception. But he is getting better and better in this area. I am sure he will improve his game further under the guidance of Anders Kristiansson.

I think he will be ready to play in Italy next year. But not in Copra Piacenza. It will be wiser to give him in another Italian team on loan for one year. And get him back for the 2010-2011 season.

thank you very much Shadow, very precise

Match Day 15

Ethnikos Alexandroupolis - PAOK : 2-3 (25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 18-25, 8-15) stats
Apollon Kalamarias - Olympiakos : 1-3 (26-28, 21-25, 25-23, 22-25) stats
AONS Milon - Panathinaikos : 0-3 (20-25, 26-28, 17-25) stats
AO Kifisias - Foinikas Syrou : 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-18 ) stats
Aris - Lamia : 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23) stats
EA Patron - Iraklis : 0-3 (20-25, 13-25, 19-25) stats

Iraklis, Aris, AO Kifisias & Ethnikos Alexandroupolis have 1 game less.

A fantastic game from my team. 3-0 against EA Patron at their home. Incredible serving, good reception and effective blocking. Great performance from our setter, Simon Tischer, after a long time. His passes were so fast and precise that sometimes our attackers had no block in front of them. EAP had no chance to win this game. After this performance I am sure that my team is back for good and I am confident that we can win the Greek Cup next weekend.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday there is the Greek Cup Final 8 in Patra. The competition system is similar to the Italian. The top 8 teams after the 1st round of the championship will face each other at the quarterfinals on Friday. On Saturday, the four winners will compete for 2 places in Sunday’s final. Olympiakos, Panathinaikos along with Iraklis (recently) seem to be in better shape than the other teams, but I expect some tough games and maybe a few surprises. I must say I am a bit disappointed with EA Patron, but the Final 8 will be organised at their home, so I guess they have an advantage and an extra motive to play better.
The Greek Cup winner secures a place in next year’s Champions League, so everyone will do their best to win the trophy.

The Greek Cup Final 8 schedule

Friday 30/01/2009
Panathinaikos - Foinikas Syrou
Iraklis - Lamia
EA Patron - AONS Milon
Olympiakos - Aris

After the last quarterfinal, there will be draw for the semifinal couples.

Saturday 31/01/2009
Semifinals

Sunday 01/02/2009
Final

Greek Cup 2008/2009

Semifinals 31/01/2009

Olympiakos - E.A Patron: 3 - 1 (25-20, 20-25, 26-24, 25-20) Milkovic 23,5 Rivera 11 Hoff 8 --- Yordanov 23,5 Sachi 15 Novotny 14,83

Panathinaikos - Iraklis: 3 - 2 (16-25,22-25,25-22,29-27,15-12) Agamez 30 ,Andrae 13,Herpe 11,5 ---Nilsson 18,83 Smaragdis 17,67 Akhrem 14,83 Kostadinov 8,33 Tischer 5,83

Both great matches

Tomorrow at 17:00 the final Panathinaikos - Olympiakos

Quote from pao13

Kostadinov 8,33

Plamen KONSTANTINOV..

Quote from pao13

Tomorrow at 17:00 the final Panathinaikos - Olympiakos

Well, Panathinaikos & Olympiakos never played the final of Greek Cup because these happened :

The President of Hellenic Volleyball Federation, Stelios Prosalikas, speaks with police officials, trying to figure what to do

Some idiot hooligans (most of them were Olympiakos fans) turned a game that meant to be a celebration, into a war .
The 2 clubs were punished.
Olympiakos was fined with 101.000 Euros and they must play 8 games without their fans.
Panathinaikos was fined with 20.000 Euros and they must play 1 game without their fans.

The Final will be played in Athens, without the fans of the 2 clubs, on a date that will be determined in the next days.

Now to some volleyball action.
On Wednesday Iraklis was defeated by Aris with 1-3.

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Iraklis - Aris : 1-3 (25-17, 22-25, 23-25, 22-25) stats

Another shocking result for my team, another defeat at our home.
After this game our coach Kostas Arseniadis resigned. It was about time. He wasn't able to inspire the players anymore. Iraklis lost some important games because of him.
Such game was the Cup semifinal against Panathinaikos. We were winning 2-0 and we lost the game by 2-3. Unbelievable. Arseniadis did nothing to avoid the defeat.

The administration instantly hired the Italian Flavio Gulinelli who resigned from Tonno Calipo Vibo Valentia some days ago.

Yesterday, the games of match day 14 were played.

Match Day 14

PAOK - AONS Milon : 3-1 (15-25, 25-12, 25-23, 25-18 ) stats
Foinikas Syrou - Olympiakos : 2-3 (23-25, 28-26, 19-25, 25-22, 10-15) stats
Panathinaikos - Aris : 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-20) stats
Lamia - Apollon Kalamarias : 3-1 (25-16, 19-25, 31-29, 25-14) stats
Iraklis - Ethnikos Alexandroupolis : 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-23) stats
AO Kifisias - EA Patron : 1-3 (25-21, 22-25, 21-25, 17-25) stats

The first words of Flavio Gulinelli as Iraklis head coach :

"It is my pleasure to work for Iraklis. It is a big club with great athletes. I spoke with Theodoros Bozidis (setter of Vibo Valentia), who had been a player of Iraklis, and he said the best words about the club and the administration, about the athletes and the city of Thessaloniki."

Answering a question about the last results of Iraklis in the championship, Mr. Gulinelli said :
"I have been informed about certain unlucky results. However, victories will come again through the hard work. It is important for us to win again because one victory will lead us to another. From what I observed in this game, the team had some difficulties at the end of the sets, after the 20th point. It is something that we will examine in training."
According to the Italian coach, it is easier for him to work with experienced players. "It is easier to work with athletes who have experience and Iraklis players are very experienced. They are good players and I am confident that we will do well."

Standings

Match Day 16

Panathinaikos - Ethnikos Alexandroupolis : 14/02/2009
Lamia - AONS Milon : 14/02/2009
Olympiakos - Aris : 14/02/2009
PAOK - EA Patron : 14/02/2009
Iraklis - AO Kifisias : 15/02/2009
Foinikas Syrou - Apollon Kalamarias : 16/02/2009

Well, Justyna don’t be surprised. This is the situation whenever Olympiakos and Panathinaikos play against each other and there are fans of both clubs on the stands. A couple of months ago, the some happened on a game of water polo! It is a madness going on!
Tomorrow they play against each other again for the CEV Cup. I hope these things won’t happen again. This time Panathinaikos will be the home team and from what it is known there won’t be fans of Olympiakos. The same will happen when Olympiakos will be the home team.

A new loss for Iraklis! This time, I think, it was even expected since it has become a tradition for Iraklis to lose games like this... I simply cannot understand how come they play fantastic volleyball in Europe and obviously awful in the Greek league. They missed Nilsson, Denison and Smaragdis today but this is not an excuse against a team like Kifisias... At least I hope they will play great in the IECL because their place is exactly there!

Quote from YavorD

A new loss for Iraklis! This time, I think, it was even expected since it has become a tradition for Iraklis to lose games like this... I simply cannot understand how come they play fantastic volleyball in Europe and obviously awful in the Greek league. They missed Nilsson, Denison and Smaragdis today but this is not an excuse against a team like Kifisias... At least I hope they will play great in the IECL because their place is exactly there!

Yes, we played without Nilsson, Denison and Smaragdis and during the 2nd set we lost Baev with an foot injury, but we also played without our new coach Gulinelli because some of the necessary papers didn't arrive from Italy on time. I know that the injuries isn't a good reason why we play so bad in the Greek league. I suppose that since the team can't finish 1st or 2nd at the regular season, we decided to focus on the Champions League and give all of our energy in order to reach the Final 4. I don't know, just an assumption.
On Thursday we play against Vitoria. Nilsson will be back but Denison and Smaragdis won't play. Denison had flu, he is fine now but he is weak and the coach decided to leave him out to get some rest. Smaragdis has a problem with his knee and he will be out for the next 3 or 4 games. The doctors say that he may miss the first IECL game against Friedrichshafen which is very bad if it happens.

Now, the results of Match Day 16 :

Panathinaikos - Ethnikos Alexandroupolis : 3-0 (25-11, 27-25, 25-16) stats
Lamia - AONS Milon : 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-21) stats
Olympiakos - Aris : 1-3 (23-25, 26-24, 21-25, 26-28 ) stats
PAOK - EA Patron : 3-2 (25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 21-25, 15-13) stats
Iraklis - AO Kifisias : 2-3 (21-25, 22-25, 25-13, 25-17, 15-17) stats
Foinikas Syrou - Apollon Kalamarias : 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-23, 15-11) stats

Standings after Match Day 16

Match Day 17

AO Kifisias - PAOK : 20/02/2009
Ethnikos Alexandroupolis - Lamia : 21/02/2009
Aris - Apollon Kalamarias : 21/02/2009
EA Patron - Panathinaikos : 22/02/2009
Iraklis - Foinikas Syrou : 22/02/2009
AONS Milon - Olympiakos : 22/02/2009

Quote from Shadow

we played without Nilsson, Denison and Smaragdis and during the 2nd set we lost Baev with an foot injury

http://www.galanissportsdata.c…_09/a1mengame.asp?game=91

mmmh so we have something in common!

Quote from Copra Piacenza

mmmh so we have something in common!

Unfortunately this is true. It’s not like me to complain about the injuries but this year we have played only 6 or 7 games with full squad. I hope things will be better in the future for both Iraklis and Piacenza.