The volleyball players from Nova Tech Lycurgus missed the opportunity to compete for the top two places in the championship pool in Groningen. Dynamo lost 3-2.
Due to the loss on Sunday afternoon against Dynamo from Apeldoorn, Lycurgus’ direct qualification for the semi-finals for the Dutch title becomes very difficult. With only two games to go in the championship pool, the Groningers are five points behind Dynamo, which is second behind Orion. Yet no man has gone overboard for the men of Groningen coach Arjan Taaij. Qualification in the last four for the championship will soon be possible by beating one of the best teams in the relegation group in a quarter-final match.
“It will be very difficult for us to reach the semi-final directly,” Taaij agreed after the match in the Martiniplaza, filled with a thousand spectators. “We should have won 3-0 or 3-1 to have any chance of that. We now have to do everything we can to finish third in the championship group.”
In any case, Lycurgus will avoid the strong Sliedrecht Sport in the quarter-finals, which is leading the relegation group. “But other teams that we can meet are also difficult. The differences are not large. We just didn’t manage to push through against Dynamo today. That’s too bad.”
Service pressure with aces from Robin Boekhoudt
Lycurgus nevertheless started very well against the Apeldoorners. The Groningers quickly took a lead playing superiorly and never relinquished it. The set went to the home team 25-16. Lycurgus provided the necessary pressure while serving, including a number of aces from Robin Boekhoudt. But Lycurgus did not maintain the high level of play throughout the match. The second set was lost 21-25, after which the defeat was a fact 25-23, 23-25 and 11-15.
“Our first set was very good,” said Taaij. “But on the whole we were just too inconsistent to push through. In the fourth set we fell behind 9-2 mainly due to our own mistakes. We have to do just that little bit better to be able to win such a match. We are not yet where we need to be. That is the reality of today. We have to get ready for the quarter finals. We have to start working on that.”
Ramon Martinez Gion sacrifices himself
Just like last weekend against Limax, Taaij started again with Ramon Martinez Gion in the diagonal position, while the veteran is actually a passer-runner. But one diagonal Kay van Dijk is slightly injured and the other, Thomas Sleurink, has been suspended.
According to the coach, Sleurink and the also suspended Arjan Westra will return to the selection on Monday: “They have both not been part of the group for two weeks. That is sad and very annoying, but we felt it was necessary. It was a severe punishment, but we had to draw a line. That didn’t happen overnight. This has never happened to me in my history as a coach. We have had many discussions and from now on we will continue with optimism.” Nothing has been announced about the reasons for the suspensions.
Martinez Gion sacrificed himself a bit in the team’s interest by playing as a diagonal, but he didn’t have it all his way. “I didn’t have enough to do and that made it difficult. I wasn’t involved enough in the game. I couldn’t get into the flow like when I play as a passer-runner. I have played the diagonal position before in the past. So I thought: I’ll do it. Only I didn’t get many balls in the match. I wasn’t really wanted unless it was really necessary. That’s not good for self-confidence.”
For Martinez Gion, no man has gone overboard after the loss against Dynamo. “Whether we reach the semi-finals one way or the other. That does not matter.”
Lycurgus Dynamo 2-3
Spectators: 1000.
Set positions: 25-16, 21-25, 25-23, 23-25 and 11-15.
Next game: Sunday Groningen, 3 p.m.: Lycurgus-Limax.