The Panionios Betsson team, led by Dragan Nesic, head coach of the Bulgarian U22 women's national team, achieved another historic victory in European club tournaments. In the first leg of the Women's Challenge Cup Round of 16, the Greek team defeated Spanish Eskimo 3:0(25:18, 25:23, 25:12) as a guest, making a strong bid to qualify among the top eight.

The return match in Nea Smyrni is on Thursday, January 15, at 18:00, with the "blue-reds" needing only two sets to secure their place in the quarterfinals.

Under Nesic's leadership, Panionios demonstrated impressive tactical discipline and a balance between offense and defense. The players committed only 7 unforced errors in the entire match, and in the third set, they didn't make a single error – an indicator of concentration and confidence. A key factor for success was blocking – 13 against 7 in favor of the Greek team.

With the exception of the second set, which was decided by fine margins, Panionios dictated the tempo from the first serve to the final point and closed the match in 77 minutes.

Elitsa Vasileva-Atanasijevic, captain of the Bulgarian national team last season, was at the center of everything important for Panionios. She finished with 17 points and led the team in offense, adding 3 blocks, stable reception, and a leadership presence in key moments. Bianca Ristichevich supported her with 12 points and a significant contribution both at the net and from service.

Match statistics

The difference in blocking and forced errors is telling. Panionios didn't just execute their attacks, but systematically challenged the opponent with good defensive organization and constant serving pressure.

With such a performance, the Panionios Betsson team, led by Bulgaria U22 head coach Dragan Nesic and with Elitsa Vasileva-Atanasijevic as an undisputed leader, appears fully ready for the next phase of the tournament.

photo: cev.eu