The PAOK team recorded its second victory in the championship and its first as an away team, after a dramatic 3:2 (25:18, 29:25, 25:18, 24:26, 9:15) success over OFI in Heraklion. The match, full of twists and turns and balanced statistics between the two teams, was decided in the tie-break, where the Bulgarian middle blocker Nikolay Kolev became a key factor.
PAOK found themselves trailing twice – at 0:1 and 1:2 sets – but Valantis Mamas' team showed stability in the end, led by the match MVP Fernando Hernandez, who scored 27 points.
After the success, the Thessaloniki team climbed to 6th place in the provisional standings with 5 points.
The decisive moment: a 5:0 run and two blocks by Kolev.
In the tie-break, PAOK made a 5:0 run, starting from 9-10 and directly finishing the match at 9-15.
Nikolay Kolev made two consecutive blocks, with the first giving his team a match point and the second closing the match in favor of the "black and whites".
For the entire match, Kolev recorded:
| Player | Total Points | Attack | Blocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nikolay Kolev | 13 | 9/11 | 4 |
Extremely effective performance – Kolev finished with an impressive 81% in attack and 4 blocks, two of which came in the most intense part of the match.
Team Statistics
| Category | OFI | PAOK |
|---|---|---|
| Aces | 4 | 6 |
| Attacks | 52 | 60 |
| Blocks | 8 | 6 |
| Points from opponent errors | 39 | 30 |
OFI is better at blocking, but PAOK compensates with higher attacking productivity and more won rallies. The lower number of errors by the Thessaloniki team and a powerful final series tip the scales in their favor.
Individual highlights
Fernando Hernandez 27 points, 24/46 attacks, 3 aces (MVP).
Nikolay Kolev 13 pts, 9/11 attack, 4 blocks, including the two consecutive ones for the win.
Nikolay Kurtev 8 points, stable performance as a middle blocker.
For OFI: Mihajlovic 19 pts, Molina 18 pts, Mitic 10 pts with 5 blocks.
