From BZ/dpa
The joy at the BR Volleys was by no means exuberant.
Although the team defeated VfB Friedrichshafen 3-1 (25:21, 25:22, 28:30, 25:19) at home in the first of a maximum of five playoff finals for the German volleyball championship on Monday, they were middle blockers Anton Brehme immediately raised his index finger in warning.
“The opponent made it clear that we still have a very tough and difficult final series ahead of us,” said the 23-year-old.
Luciano Vicentin couldn’t get through against the double block of volleys by Marek Sotola and Anton Brehme Photo: City Press
The duel between the arch-rivals will enter the second round on Thursday at Lake Constance.
The Volleys managing director believes that only 48 hours later the third game will be kicked off in Berlin Kaweh Niroomand for “not an ideal starting position”. Especially since both teams will travel the more than 700 kilometers between Friedrichshafen and Berlin by bus.
Volleys player Marek Sotola is happy about a point won Photo: City Press
The first meeting in front of the impressive crowd of 6892 spectators in the Max-Schmeling-Halle also had its pitfalls for the BR Volleys. Brehme thought it was “very exciting, very emotional”. And: “We were a bit nervous at first because we haven’t played at such a high level for a long time.”
The game took a very changeable course, especially for Marek Solota, otherwise the most reliable point collector of the volleys. His attack rate was a modest 21 percent after the first two sets. In the final stages of the sets, however, the Czech turned up the heat and scored important points, especially with his serve. In the statistics, seven aces were listed for him after the almost two-hour match.
Four unused match points
Volleys could have won the game more quickly. But in the third round, the team was unable to convert a 23:21 lead and a short time later four match points. “Losing that set was unnecessary,” admitted libero Satoshi Tsuiki.
Niroomand, meanwhile, even gained a positive aspect from the loss of the set. “Maybe,” he mused, “that wasn’t so bad after all, because the longer a game like this lasts at such a high level, the more it helps our team to develop.”