In the fight for the German volleyball championship, the volleys set a remarkable sign of life. In the third final game against VfB Friedrichshafen, the defending champions achieved their first win on Saturday evening with 3:0 (25:23, 27:25, 25:17).
In the best-of-five playoff series – three wins are necessary for the title – the volleys reduced the lead to 1:2. The fourth duel between the two teams takes place in Ulm on Wednesday.
In front of the season’s record crowd of 5535 spectators in the Max-Schmeling-Halle, Cody Kessel used the first match point for the hosts. The first round was hard fought.
At 22:23 the volleys were still in trouble, but Nehemiah Mote at 23:23 and two following aces from Benjamin Patch ensured the hosts narrowly won the set.
The game remained balanced, but increased in tension. In the second period, the Berliners were already 22:19 ahead, but still had to accept the equalization to 23:23. In the extension, the volleys kept a cool head. Georg Klein provided the third set ball with the point to 26:25, which Timothee Carle converted.
In the first final game in Berlin, Friedrichshafen was able to turn a 0:2 set deficit and win 3:2. This time the volleys stayed on the trigger.
With loud support from the audience, the hosts played themselves into a frenzy at the end and worked up a comfortable seven-point lead (21:14), which they couldn’t take anymore.