After 35 days without a competitive game, the Berlin Volleys made a successful start to the second round of the volleyball Bundesliga.
The German champions won 3-1 (25:20, 18:25, 25:22, 25:19) against arch-rivals VfB Friedrichshafen on Saturday evening. In front of 1452 spectators in the Max-Schmeling-Halle, both teams remained well below their usual level after the long break. In the end, the American Jeffrey Jendryk used the first match ball to win with an ace.
Both teams will meet again on February 2nd in Ulm for the semi-finals of the German Volleyball Cup. The second leg in the intermediate round will take place on February 26th.
In the first round, after a point from diagonal attacker Marek Sotola, the volleys were able to pull away 16:13 for the second technical time-out. Led by setter Sergej Grankin, the hosts extended this lead to 22:16, in the end Ruben Schott used the second set point.
Friedrichshafen, who started without the recently signed libero Nikola Pekovic, was unimpressed. When the Brazilian Daniel Muniz served in the second set, the guests scored an 8-0 point series against volleys that were not very effective at this point, leading to a 19-10 lead.
In the third set, the Berliners regained control of the game, not least thanks to the substitutions of Benjamin Patch and Cody Kessel. At 20:14, the preliminary decision was made in this round, even if VfB was able to shorten the lead again in the end. After that, the BR Volleys kept the opponent at a distance with their whole routine.