From BZ/dpa
Cody Kessel, outside attacker with the Berlin Volleys, got into raptures. “That was the best advertisement for the volleyball league,” said the 30-year-old American after the hard-fought 3:1 (27:25, 25:27, 25:19, 31:29) victory at SVG Lüneburg on Wednesday.
In Kessel, Anton Brehme and Antti Ronkainen, three former Lüneburg players, who now wear the jersey of the capital club, played a major part in the success.
The BR Volleys are unbeaten after four games and alone at the top of the Bundesliga table. They have to defend this position next on Sunday in the Berlin-Brandenburg derby at Netzhoppers KW-Bestensee.
The 1326 spectators in the newly built Lüneburg multifunctional arena experienced a match that offered excitement and drama in the 125 minutes of the game, in which both teams acted quite incorrectly. “Our win was hard-earned,” Ronkainen admitted afterwards.
Coach Cedric Enard had a lucky hand with the substitution of the 1.91 meter tall outside attacker in the final phase of the game. When the Finn served, the volleys fended off three set balls from the opponent with a 21:24 deficit and got their first of a total of five match balls at 25:24.
“It’s normal for me to be under pressure on serve. That’s volleyball, I enjoy moments like that,” said Ronkainen laconically. It was almost paradoxical that the service ultimately decided the outcome of the game. In this element, both teams were otherwise extremely weak. The volleys made 22 service errors in the four sets with only five aces, Lüneburg even 25 with at least nine aces.
The Berliners could again rely on the block defense. With 11:6 points, the Berliners were superior to their opponents in this element, not least thanks to a strong triumph of Anton Brehme. “But in the end it was a win for our entire team,” said Ronkainen.