Marek Sotola with a smash against Hebar Pazardzhik Photo: picture alliance / nordphoto GmbH
From BZ/dpa
The Berlin Volleys had a hard time preventing a false start on the first group matchday of the Volleyball Champions League.
After a 2-0 set deficit, the German champions won 3-2 against the Bulgarian representative Hebar Pazardzhik on Tuesday (23:25, 23:25, 25:17, 28:26, 15:12). In front of 3876 spectators in the Max-Schmeling-Halle, coach Cedric Enard’s team had to concede one of the three points to the opponent because of the two lost sets.
Pazardzhik had only moved into the group stage of the premier class via a qualifying round and is considered a blatant outsider there. The group of four also includes the Turkish vice-champion Halkbank Ankara and the Polish championship third-placed Warta Zawiercie. The BR Volleys next face off in the Champions League on November 16th in Ankara.
The opening sentence was extremely sobering for the hosts. Marek Sotola and Co. found hardly any solutions against the outstandingly defensive Bulgarians. At times, the BR Volleys fell behind by six points (11:17) against their opponent, who also attacked briskly. Their race to catch up towards the end of the period was no longer crowned with success.
In the second period, the volleys seemed to be on course. But the team gambled away a 15:11 lead all too easily. The Bulgarians then briefly paid tribute to their exhausting game. The Berliners found their rhythm, at least to some extent. Attack momentum increased, acceptance stabilized. The team showed morale in the fourth set. She made up for a deficit of 20:23, also fended off two match points and saved herself with the third set point in the tie-break.
In the deciding set, Timothee Carle scored three points in a row to give the hosts a 7:5 lead, including two aces. That was the basis for the narrow victory.