volleyball on the field Photo: Eibner-Pressefoto/picture alliance
From BZ/dpa
The Berlin Volleys remain undefeated leaders in the Volleyball Bundesliga. On the fifth day of play, the German champions prevailed in the Berlin-Brandenburg derby at Netzhoppers KW-Bestensee 3-1 (29:27, 25:21, 21:25, 25:22), but were only able to do so in a few phases convince against the self-confident outsider.
In front of 537 spectators in the Landkost Arena in Bettensee, Marek Sotola ended the game with the third match point on Sunday.
With their bold attacking game, the Netzhoppers swayed their opponents in the first round, but were not able to pull away by more than two points (15:13). In the final phase, the hosts missed two set balls before the BR Volleys took a 1-0 set lead with a lot of effort.
For the Berliners, the Finn Antti Ronkainen was preferred to Ruben Schott in the outside attack. In the middle block, Saso Stalekar replaced Anton Brehme. However, the team was unable to gain a significant advantage against the self-sacrificing opponents. After a 18:18 lead in the second half, however, the Netzhoppers made a number of simple mistakes that the opponent used cleverly to take a decisive four-point lead (22:18).
But the Netzhoppers showed morale. In the third round they deservedly won the set 10:10, 17:14 and 24:20. Volleys coach Cedric Enard reacted, he substituted Brehme for Stalekar. From then on, the favorite took control of the game. However, the forces on the other side also decreased. Only once did the BR Volleys get slightly into trouble when they led 21:14 and then suffered a 0:3 point streak.