The German volleyball champions Berlin Volleys have taken the first step towards successfully defending their title. At the start of the Best of Five final series against long-term rivals VfB Friedrichshafen, the capital club deservedly won 3-1 on Monday (25:21, 25:22, 28:30, 25:19). In front of 6892 spectators in the Max-Schmeling-Halle, both teams delivered an exciting and for a long time respectable exchange of blows. Both teams will meet again on Thursday at Lake Constance for the second encounter, and the third game will take place again in Berlin just 48 hours later on Saturday.
The BR Volleys initially found no rhythm. VfB made full use of their chances at the net from a hard-hitting defense and quickly pulled away to 10:6. But the hosts fought back. They took the lead for the first time through Timothee Carle at 16:15 and extended the lead to three points (20:17). Two cracking aces in a row by Marek Sotola decided the first set in favor of the Berliners.
Friedrichshafen remained defensive, equalized in the second round after 17:21 when Andre Brown served to 21:21. But the Berliners fought back and, in turn, converted the first set ball with an ace by the 2.08 meter tall Sotola.
The third round turned out to be a thriller. Due to technical errors such as touching the net and stepping over, VfB fell behind at 19:21 in crunch time, fought back, fended off four match points from the opponent in the extension of the set after some spectacular rallies and then shortened the game with the third set ball through Vojin Cacic 1:2
But then the volleys took over the field. With high serve pressure and courageous defensive actions, they pulled away to 17:11 and 23:15 and then did not let themselves be deterred from their successful course, even if VfB came up a bit at the end.
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