From BZ/dpa
Despite the success in the German volleyball classic, the BR Volleys are very cautious in the early phase of the season.
“We certainly didn’t play the best volleyball, but we fought as a team and stayed with us,” said Marek Sotola after the 3-1 victory in the Bundesliga’s prestige duel against runners-up VfB Friedrichshafen on Sunday. “Sometimes we wanted too much, but we were able to work our way into the game,” said team captain Angel Trinidad.
The twelve-time German champion from the capital had impressively substantiated his claims to a successful title defense in a largely spectacular game in front of 5328 spectators in the Max-Schmeling-Halle. “I would not have thought that our team would have progressed so far at this early stage,” said Managing Director Kaweh Niroomand in astonishment.
Finally, volleys are in transition. The 13-man squad includes half a dozen newcomers, while top performers such as Sergej Grankin and Benjamin Patch have left the club.
The game against arch-rivals from Lake Constance could have had a completely different outcome. After the first set, which was narrowly lost at 24:26, the BR Volleys had to fend off five set balls from Friedrichshafen in the second round before they were able to win 30:28. “At the beginning we made too many mistakes in attack, that shouldn’t happen to us,” criticized Niroomand.
Two weeks earlier, the Berliners had defeated VfB Friedrichshafen 3-0 in the preparatory tournament of the Bundesliga in Hildesheim, the so-called Bounce House Cup. However, Niroomand is not blinded by such results. “It’s just a nice snapshot,” he says reassuringly, “but we’re comfortable with it.”