Together with Lycurgus, the first of a diptych in the semi-final of the national cup started with a defeat. In a thriller, Sliedrecht Sport won 3-2 and 16-14 in the fifth set at home.
In the first set there was no problem for the Groningen volleyball pride. Lycurgus took it quite easily with 25-12 in South Holland. Then the draft came in. An exciting second set went to the home team 25-23. The third set was one to quickly forget for the Groningen team. They started dramatically trailing 16-6. In the end it was 25-17, but Sliedrecht Sport took a 2-1 lead in sets.
Lycurgus fought his way back into the match in the fourth set. Geoffrey van Gent brought the set in a safe haven (25-20) and so the spectators could prepare for a fifth set. That was a very exciting one, because it went straight for a long time in a dot-dot set. The home team had the longest breath and won 16-14.
All-deciding second game
On Sunday afternoon, Lycurgus will play the all-decisive second match against Sliedrecht Sport from 3.30 pm in its own Alfa College Topsportcentrum.
The team of coach Arjan Taaij knows that the opponent in a possible final comes from Gelderland. In the other semifinal Draisma Dynamo from Apeldoorn and Simplex SSS from Barneveld will play against each other. There, the victory in the first game went 3-1 to Dynamo.