Players from both teams compete for the ball at the net Photo: dpa
From BZ/dpa
Two victories at the end of the intermediate round strengthened the self-confidence of the Netzhoppers KW-Bestensee.
Before the first game in the play-off quarter-finals at second-placed SVG Lüneburg on Saturday (5.30 p.m.), outside attacker Dirk Westphal announced: “We’re definitely not going to go there with the white flag.”
The quarter-finals will be played in a best-of-three series. The second leg will take place on April 2nd inBestensee. Should a decisive third game become necessary, it would be played again in Lüneburg on April 8th.
The performances of the Netzhoppers against Lower Saxony this season are not very encouraging. Both teams faced each other twice in the main round, both times the Brandenburgers lost, first completely without a chance at home with 0:3, then away after tough resistance with 1:3.
But the Netzhoppers are not impressed by these results. “We have to go into the game without showing too much respect,” says 20-year-old winger Max Schulz, who is gradually becoming one of the top performers after injuring a meniscus.
His much more experienced teammate Dirk Westphal also advises: “We shouldn’t think so much in terms of results, but simply do our best and show that we’re a good Bundesliga team that can keep up.” At the end of the season he will end his active volleyball career and will probably switch to the club’s management, must admit: “We are total outsiders.”