From BZ/dpa
With the first defeat of the season under their belt and without a coach or captain, the BR Volleys reacted confidently in the Volleyball Bundesliga in Düren.
“We are very exhausted because the trip to Ankara was more exhausting than we thought and we didn’t get much sleep,” said outside attacker Ruben Schott after the 3-1 win over pursuer SWD Powervolleys Düren of the streaming platform Twitch, “we are happy that we can go home after a week.”
Berlin’s anton Breme and Johannes Tille oppose the attack by Düren’s Björn Andrae Photo: picture alliance / foto2press
The national defending champion put away the first defeat of the season in the Champions League on Wednesday and the metacarpal fracture of captain Angel Trinidad, as well as the absence of Cedric Enard on the sidelines due to corona.
The 46-year-old had tested positive on Saturday morning, as had libero Adam Kowalski. Nevertheless, the Berlin hosts swept Düren off the floor 25:10 in the first set.
“We got off to a really great start, despite the worries beforehand. Even after the second set, I always believed in the team,” said coach Lucio Oro, who had represented Enard on the touchline and saw a disappointing second set from his team at 18:25. “It was clear to me that Düren would come back. Extreme problems in the second set, but caught us again,” said Schott, who was voted the most valuable player of the game.
In the balanced sets three and four, the volleys underlined their class and had the better end for themselves.
“From the third set it was a typical point-by-point match without any lengthy series. In the end we trusted in our strengths and prevailed. Taking those three points here was anything but easy and makes us very happy,” said Orio. Schott was also “satisfied” and looked ahead: “We are happy to finally be able to drive home with this important victory, where we want to beat Lüneburg in the cup on Thursday.”