Panathinaikos AC Women's Volleyball Team is a Greek volleyball team, part of the major Athens-based multi-sport clubPanathinaikos A.O. The department was founded in 1969 and is the most successful women's volleyball team in Greece, in terms of Greek Championships won. They have won a record 26[1]Championships, 6 Cups, with 5 Doubles, while they hold the record for finishing undefeated the Championship 8 times (1971-1973, 1978, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2007). They hold also the record of 68 straight wins in the league including the play-offs.
They have also reached four times a European final four and two times a European final (2000 and 2009). The team currently plays in Maroussi Saint Thomas Indoor Hall.
In 2017, the club was relegated due to serious financial problems. They stayed inactive in the 2017–18 season.
The club has retired the jersey number 9 in honour of the team's legendary captain Ruxandra Dumitrescu.
History
The women’s volleyball department of the Club was founded in 1926 and is one of the most beloved sections of the “Shamrock.”
In 1946, it participated in the Central Championship. The coaches were Mike Stergiadis and Christos Svolopoulos, who trained at the court on Tsokha Street.
However, the results were not as expected, and the first truly organized effort to form a solid team came in 1969.
It is remarkable that Panathinaikos had a women’s volleyball team a year before the Hellenic Volleyball Federation was even established.
The team’s first coach was Panathinaikos volleyball player Andreas Bergeles, who was later succeeded by Savvas Grozdanovits. The Yugoslav coach worked with the women’s team while simultaneously serving as the men’s team coach.
Success came quickly — it is characteristic that the women won the Central Championship outright in 1970 and were crowned Greek champions in 1971.
This is a department with tremendous achievements, as shown by its numerous titles and consistent high placements. In fact, the worst position the team has ever finished in the national championship is fifth — and that only happened during a period of major team rebuilding.
As for the women’s accomplishments abroad, they are widely recognized, as Panathinaikos showed its European character very early on. Specifically, in the 1980–81 season, the team reached the Final Four of the Confederation Cup in Munich, finishing in 4th place.
The next major success came in the 1994–95 season, when the “Greens” advanced to the Final Four of the Cup Winners’ Cup in Münster, again finishing 4th. In the 1999–2000 season, they made history by competing in the Cup Winners’ Cup in Perugia against the local team. Although they didn’t manage to lift the trophy, they wrote Panathinaikos’ name in golden letters in European volleyball history. The most recent major success was the 2008–09 season, when they took 2nd place in the Final Four of the Challenge Cup in Jesi, Italy.
In 2008, an incredible streak came to an end — the women’s volleyball team of Panathinaikos had achieved 55 consecutive wins and 77 consecutive home victories!
Equally impressive is the work being done in Panathinaikos’ women’s volleyball academies. The club has won two Greek Championships (1991 and 2013) and three ESPAA Junior Championships (1990, 1991, and 2013).
Finally, the “fine girls” have also made great contributions to the Greek National Team. Players such as R. Pragaloudi, S. Angelaki, F. Malapetsa, K. Yaleniou, and E. Sfyri were part of the historic success of winning the bronze medal at the 1991 Mediterranean Games.
The team’s best season is considered to be 2009, when the “fine girls” reached the Challenge Cup final and, at the same time, won the domestic double in Greece.
The players who made history under coach Takis Floros were Chatzinikou, Saparefska, Totsko, Dumitrescu, Tomasevic, Fernandez, Mylona, Tzanakaki, Koutouxidou, and Papageorgiou. [2]
Official sponsors: Hygeia Medical Center, Avance Car Rental, Land Rover Spanos Luxury Cars, Viva Fresh, Batteries.gr, Biosteel, LCG. Boukia kai syhorio.[23][24]
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