“The Champions League doesn’t matter at all! 50 percent of the players won’t be there next season anyway. So I don’t deal with that very much. It’s about winning the series in the championship,” says Alexander Waibl, the Dresden coach SC, on the phone before the semi-final duels with SC Potsdam that begin on Saturday (April 16, 5 p.m.). The fact that the women’s volleyball league gets a second starting place for the Champions League for the coming season is not really his topic.
In addition to the champion, the runner-up now also has the right to take part in the premier class: “It’s not my decision, but we’ve always tried to take advantage of it.” Other clubs such as Stuttgart or Schwerin have also refrained from participating in the past. The DSC, on the other hand, did very well internationally recently and got the win three wins in his recent Champions League groupbut the top clubs from Rzesów and Kaliningrad secured progress.
Great respect for Potsdam: “Lots of quality and depth”
But first the playoff semi-finals in the “Best of three” mode against SC Potsdam are on the agenda. Alexander Waibl speaks of a “very attractive hammer series”. The opponent has a lot of “quality and depth” in the team, the “form on the day” will be decisive. The Brandenburgers have only lost one league game away from home this season – no wonder Waibl is “hoping for a lot of support in our hall”. Game one and a possible third game may complete defending champion DSC in the domestic Margon Arena.
With Potsdam comes an opponent with whom we “have a very good relationship”. The SCP, the largest sports club in Brandenburg, has already been met six times this season. Three times in tests, plus in the championship and cup. The balance is 3:3, especially the dramatic one 3:2 Alexander Waibl has fond memories of the cup semifinals in Potsdam: “That was a utopian game.”
Corona situation at DSC is easing
His team is after another outbreak of corona, which is why they entered the quarter-final series against Wiesbaden (2-0) had not necessarily left as a big favorite, on the mend. From the main formation, Waibl is still worried about the important middle blocker Monique Strubbe, who is after a torn ligament now Corona has: “Apart from her, we are now pretty close to the performance where we were before.”
However, one had no experience with such a pandemic, and he hints at the difficulties: “What does it mean for the individual, what does something like this mean for the team?” The 60, 70 percent capacity with which the DSC went into the playoffs has now been properly improved. “We have respect for Potsdam, but we’re also extremely excited about the game.”
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Info: Scores in the second semi-final series cup winner and championship favorite MTV Stuttgart, who has only lost the league once Suhl conqueror and record champion SSC Schwerin.