Even a strong performance by diagonal attacker Marek Sotola didn’t help the BR volleys in Ankara Photo: picture alliance / photo booth
From BZ/dpa
The BR Volleys suffered a defeat in the Volleyball Champions League.
In the second game in Group B, the German champions lost 3-1 (21:25, 19:25, 25:22, 23:25) at the Turkish runner-up Halkbank Ankara on Wednesday. The best player in the loser was diagonal attacker Marek Sotola. The Czech benefited significantly from the pass from Johannes Tille, who had come on for Angel Trinidad in the second set.
After a balanced start, the BR Volleys went through a phase of weakness in the middle of the first set. Ankara pulled away from 8:7 to 14:8. The guests could not make up for this deficit. With the change in the player position, the attacking game of the Berliners gradually became more dynamic.
Two extremely tight but correct challenge decisions in favor of the Turks at 10:11 and 10:12 threw the Berliners back in the meantime. With a lead of 16:11, the hosts had already set the course for winning the set.
In the first group game against Hebar Pazardzhik from Bulgaria, the BR Volleys were able to convert a 0:2 set deficit into a 3:2 victory. There was hope of repeating such a comeback as Sotola converted the second set point in the third half to put his team 2-1 up.
In the end, however, the Bundesliga leaders were unable to use a 22:19 lead in the fourth set, also because Ankara’s world-class player Nimir Abdel-Aziz once again proved his qualities with two aces in a row.