MONZA, DECEMBER 20th 2023 – The MINT Vero Volley Monza lead by coach Massimo Eccheli is ready to return on the pitch tomorrow, Thursday December 21st at 8.00 pm, at the Opiquad Arena in Monza where they will face Panathinaikos Athens, for the second leg of the round of 16 of the Challenge Cup 2024. The match will not be broadcast live on TV or streamed.
An important challenge, given the tie-break victory for Monza in the first leg, in which success would mean access to the quarter-finals of the event. The brianzoli will have to be good at managing their physical and mental energy after the match played at home against Padova, valid for the tenth matchday of the SuperLega Credem Banca. The success allowed MINT to consolidate fourth place in the standings, at 20 points, bringing ever closer the possibility of being able to guarantee of playing the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup at the home field. Monza will be able to rely on the team’s coherence, which is crucial in this first phase of the season, against the fearsome and very tough Greek.
In the first match, the contribution of the two spikers Loeppky and Takahashi was positive, scoring 16 points each. No precedent between the two teams in official matches before the match at the P. Gazgas Competition Hall, while there are no formers players on either side of the net. Panathinaikos, in the round of 32, defeated the Azerbaijani team Khari Byul Byul Shusha, winning 0-3 in Baku and 3-1 in Athens. Top scorer in the first match was the Cuban opposite Hernandez Ramos, with 21 balls hit on the ground.
ROSTER – MINT VERO VOLLEY MONZA
Setters: KRELING, VISIC
Middle Blockers: BERETTA, DI MARTINO, GALASSI, COMPARONI
Spikers: MAAR, TAKAHASHI, SZWARC, LOEPPKY, MUJANOVIC
Libero: GAGGINI, MORAZZINI
Coach: ECCHELI
ROSTER – PANATHINAIKOS ATENE
Setters: HIERREZUELO AGUIRRE, KASAMPALIS
Middle Blockers: PETREAS, PAPANGELOPOULOS, FERREIRA RANGEL, VOULKIDIS
Spikers: KOVAR, MARKOU, FRAGKOS, KOSTOPOULOS, HERNANDEZ RAMOS, PROTOPSALTIS
Liberos: ZISIS, KONTOSTATHIS
Coach: ANDREOPOULOS
REFEREES
Tin Vedris (Cro), Ruben Sanchez Rodriguez (Esp)
PRECEDENTS
CEV Challenge Cup 2024 – First leg round of the 16 2-3 (25-21; 18-25; 25-22; 18-25; 9-15)
STATEMENTS
Massimo Eccheli (Coach MINT Vero Volley Monza): “It was a very tough challenge in Athens and we expect it will be the same here in Monza. We will need the support of our fans, since they will be able to count on many supporters. We will have to be focused on the approach to the match and on its development: I hope that our fans will be warm and numerous, because we will really need them. After the misstep against Milan, the only match of the season in which we were unable to react, the team had an excellent reaction by winning in Catania, fighting in Athens and gained the three points with Padova. Three victories in a row which are useful for moral, but tomorrow another battle awaits us in which we will have to fight until the last point”.
