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The women’s national team of Greece made a solid step towards qualifying for EuroVolley 2021 with a straight-set victory over their main contender. In their second game in qualification Pool C in Larissa, the home side produced a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-18) shutout of Spain and improved their historical head-to-head record against the Iberians to 18-25.

Greece’s blockers made the difference in the first set. They scored five points towards a 25-22 win, shaped up by Anthi Vasilantonaki with a successful spike for the last point, one of seven she scored in the set. She went for another seven in the second, but it was on her serving run that Greece stormed the win at the end. Spain had a five-point lead at 17-12, down to three at 20-17. A fantastic series of eight points in a row ended the set at 25-20 Greece’s way. Spain recovered from an early four-point deficit in the third set to keep it level through 14-14. The home side gradually regained control and once again finished the set off in an impressive manner. A five-point run was crowned by Olga Strantzali’s beautiful back-row hit for 25-18.

Anthi Vasilantonaki topped the scorers chart of the match with 20 points to her name.

Pascual Saurin, head coach of Spain: "We generally played well despite our loss. The second set and the way we lost it were crucial for the final outcome. The Greek team pressed us with their serving and the lack of experience stressed us sod we could not finish our attacks."

 
Guillermo Naranjo, head coach of Greece: "It was a very hard game, despite the 3-0. The few fans that were here at the venue showed us how much we have missed them. I'm very proud of my team, especially on how they reacted in the second set. I expect the same passion tomorrow against Austria who are a very good team."