Greek players grow on and off the court

On Tuesday, Greece was only one step from causing one of the biggest surprises in Pool A. The team under guidance of Dimitrios Andreopoulos threw down a challenge to the defending champions. Sparing no effort they fought hard with Serbia throughout five sets, eventually losing in the tie-break (25-23, 22-25, 25-16, 28-30, 15-5). The team is growing game by game, and although they are still winless, they have one more game ahead - the clash against Portugal on Wednesday. EuroVolley is an intensive time for all players, but two 20-year-old athletes - Charalampos Andreopoulos and Dimitrios Mouchlias have combined their duties on the court with academic studies.

At EuroVolley 2019, Greece returned to the competition after a ten-year-absence, finishing 16th as they lost in the eight finals to Russia. In this year's edition Greece still seeks their opportunity to win a game, but they were able to win a set against Poland and played two five-setters - against Ukraine and Serbia. The battle with Serbia proved that they have big potential. In the last Pool A match, Greece will face Portugal.

Both Andreopoulos and Mouchlias compete at EuroVolley for the first time, and they enjoy the privilege of being a member of the national team at Europe's prime competition. "I'm really surprised to be here, two years ago I took part in the preparations and my goal was to be ready physically and mentally to participate at this edition of EuroVolley. So I fulfilled my goal and I'm very happy about this accomplishment and being a part of this team," admitted outside spiker Charalampos Andreopoulos.

It's worth emphasizing that in time between training and matches they both fulfill their duties as students, obviously remotely. Dimitrios Mouchlias is a student of kinesiology and rehab science at University of Hawaii. "Combining studies and sport is not easy - I have to say. If you have a proper plan and schedule you can do as many things as you want in your life. Between training sessions and games I try to study and stay on top of everything with my college. After EuroVolley I'm going back to Hawaii. I chose this university, because of the volleyball programme. The team is on the highest level. Last year we won the championship."

Andreopoulos, who is a student of business in Athens agrees with his teammate and highlights the real value of studies. "Like my teammate said, it's not very easy, but at the end of the day I realise that I'm able to do many things. Studies help us to grow mentally beyond volleyball and develop personality, therefore I'm studying to grow my mind."

Despite the fact that Greece is so far winless at EuroVolley, they still have a chance to progress to the next round. Following the result of the second encounter played in Kraków on Tuesday between Ukraine and Belgium, which was won by the Ukrainian players 3-1 (25-27, 25-23, 25-18, 25-23) they still have a chance to go to the eight finals. Poland, Serbia and Ukraine are already qualified, but the result of the match between Greece and Portugal will determine who grabs the last ticket to the eight finals - Greece or Portugal. It's worth keeping in mind their story from 2019, when one single point separating Greece and Portugal gave them a spot in the last 16, this time to qualify Greece needs to win 3-0 or 3-1.