Panathinaikos back on top after 14 years

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Athens, Greece, July 13, 2020 - Panathinaikos Athens have dethroned archrivals Olympiacos Piraeus, winning their 19th national championship title as the Greek Men's League wrapped up on Sunday, following its restart earlier this month after several months of lockdown.

The two rivals clashed in the best-of-three final series of the Playoffs, with the Athens side winning back-to-back matches 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-19) and 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-13).

Alexandros Raptis, Panathinaikos' 20-year-old opposite was named MVP of the season. He was top scorer in both the matches of the final series, after switching from outside hitter for the Playoffs, successfully replacing Serbia international Sasa Starovic in the opposite position.

Raptis was the second-best overall scorer of the Regular Season with a total of 276 points, trailing only Iraklis Papadopoulos of Pamvochaikos Vrachati who topped the chart on 281.

Panathinaikos returned to the top of the podium of the Greek championship after a 14-year hiatus - with their previous title dating from 2006. However, their 19 men's national titles still fall way short of the 29 won by Olympiacos in the history of Greek volleyball.

Earlier this season and before the coronavirus lockdown was put in place, Panathinaikos had also won the League Cup, overwhelming Olympiacos in a 'Golden Set' after the their home-and-away final series was tied at 1-1.

Source: fivb.com

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