Italy's Vallefoglia, which includes Mika Stoyanova and Tsvetomira Mitkova, took a significant step towards winning the CEV Challenge Cup trophy after defeating Panathinaikos 3:2 (25:20, 20:25, 25:12, 22:25, 15:12) in the first final, played in Pesaro.

The match was extremely contested and saw several comebacks. The Italian team won the first set, but the Greek squad quickly equalized. Vallefoglia imposed complete dominance in the third set, winning convincingly, but Panathinaikos once again returned to the match and equalized. In the decisive tie-break, the hosts showed greater stability and achieved a valuable success.

Mika Stoyanova and Tsvetomira Mitkova did not participate in the match, but they are part of the team that is on the verge of an historic European trophy.

The top scorer in the match was opposite hitter Erblira Bici, who scored an impressive 32 points. Gaia Giovannini with 12 points and Adelina Budai-Ungureanu with 10 points also made significant contributions.

For Panathinaikos, the only player with a double-digit score was Monika Lampkowska, who finished with 19 points.

The rematch between the two teams is on March 18th in "Makis Liougas" Hall in Glyfada, where the winner of the CEV Challenge Cup trophy will also be decided. There, Vallefoglia will try to finish what they started and reach the European title.

photo: cev.eu