Itan Dahan
Maccabi Volleyball (Rinat Verdi)
In front of a hall full of yellow-blue fans in Hadar Yosef, the Maccabi Tel Aviv volleyball team this evening (Thursday) recorded a great victory 1:3 in sets over the powerful PAUK Thessaloniki in the Round of 16 of the Challenge Cup and achieved a significant advance for the tough rematch that awaits the Israeli champion in Greece.
The beginning was not easy for Gal Galili’s trainees, who led for most of the first set, but lost momentum and lost 27:25. However, from then on, there was only one team on the floor and it wore yellow. The Israeli champion achieved 22:25 in the second, a great 17:25 in the third and the fourth was tight and dramatic, at the end the locals celebrated with 30:32.
Above them all was Alexander Saponov, the Russian crosser of the locals, with Kevin Poyer, Selva Baccala and Gianluca Grasso also displaying impressive ability. Josh Eisenberg, who has become one of Maccabi’s mainstays in recent years, was trusted in the defense with some great saves after the landings of the opponents from Greece.
By the way, there was a saga in the last point, the Greeks claimed that the ball hit one of the yellow players’ hands and they should get the point. With the decision, the players and the Greek team attacked the referee and a riot developed, while at the same time the players in yellow went to celebrate with the large crowd that came to support them.
