Volleyball players Lycurgus from Groningen win titanic battle against Limax

Right from the start it was clear that Lycurgus had to work hard against Limax. The co-leader of the Premier League came to visit with the Limburg team. That was what coach Guido Görtzen’s team achieved last weekend by inflicting its first defeat on the still undefeated Orion. It was an exciting battle against Limax in Groningen.

Lycurgus fell behind 1-0 after the Limburgers won the first set 22-25. The difference only became apparent with the so-called big points made. Center attacker Robin Boekhoudt reduced the deficit to 20-22 with a nice tip ball, but then Limax played out the set expertly. The American Cole Gillis first hit the score to 22-24 via the Limburg block, but then pushed the ball out of bounds with a hard smash. This is how the guests achieved the second set point and the 1-0 lead.

Lycurgus still had to warm up

Lycurgus clearly had to warm up at the beginning of the match. Coach Arjan Taaij’s team alternated strong moments with less good moments. The passing occasionally left a lot to be desired, as did the serving. In addition, service gun Cal Fisher was missing from the home team due to an injury. It was a historic match in the Alfa-college Sports Center, where the Groningers played their last home game. Under the new owner Nova Technology, Martiniplaza will become their new home base.

The second set was also exciting, but the home team was now the dominant party. Lycurgus played with concentration and took a 24-21 lead. Passer-runner Cole Gillis was important in creating the lead with hard smashes. However, Lycurgus failed to complete two set points in a row. Still, the set was 25-23 for the Groningers, after playmaker Cole Bogner nicely scored the last point and made the score 1-1.

Thomas Sleurink hands over his business card

In the third set, diagonal player Thomas Sleurink, Cal Fisher’s replacement, showed that he can compete excellently at this level. The 19-year-old, who came over from Talent Team Papendal, was not impressed and scored nice points. That could not prevent the initiative from lying more on Limax’s side. Reason for coach Taaij to bring in the experienced passer-runner Ramon Martinez Gion for the Groningers when they were 10-14 behind. That had an effect.

Serving sharply and hard, Martinez Gion led his team to a 16-16 draw. Excellent blocking then gave Lycurgus an 18-16 lead. It didn’t last long. At 22-22 the set could still go either way. However, Limax was the sharpest in finishing. Resulting in a 23-25 ​​set win and a 1-2 lead.

Even in the fourth set, both teams initially barely conceded anything to each other in the razor-sharp battle. However, Lycurgus became increasingly alert offensively and defensively, resulting in a 19-13 lead. The Groningen team could no longer miss a set win. That didn’t happen with 25-22.

With a 2-2 draw in sets, the match went down to the wire with a decisive fifth set. Lycurgus took an excellent lead and could already smell the victory. Limax struggled a bit, but could not prevent the set win and the 3-2 victory for the Groningen team. Cole Bogner mercilessly hit a ball poorly processed by Limax and thus scored the match point.