Before their five-day Christmas vacation, the Berlin Volleys once again gave themselves presents. With the 3:1 victory at the Grizzlys Giesen on Wednesday evening in the semi-finals of the German Volleyball Cup, the players sweetened their free time, which began the following day. “The lost first set sparked the anger we needed,” said setter Johannes Tille on the course of the game.
The BR Volleys are now in the cup final for the eleventh time. They picked up the trophy five times, most recently in 2020 with 3-0 against SWD powervolleys Düren. The Rhinelanders are the final opponents again on February 26th in Mannheim. In the second semi-final they surprisingly knocked out cup defenders VfB Friedrichshafen 3-0. “Mannheim will be great,” promises Tille for the final.
In the duel against Giesen, the BR Volleys initially had big problems getting into the game. “We were aware that it wouldn’t be easy. But we didn’t doubt ourselves even after falling behind in the set,” said winger Ruben Schott. The turnaround was mainly successful for the Berliners because diagonal attacker Marek Sotola trumped like unleashed from then on. 30 points went to the account of the 2.08 meter giant. He annoyed his opponent with five aces.
The Frenchman Timothee Carle also achieved this rate when opening the game from the baseline. “Our excellent serve was the key to success,” said Tille. In the end, the statistics included a remarkable 14 aces with 17 serve errors.
The BR Volleys have their next game in the Bundesliga on January 4th at home against SVG Lüneburg. Then it all happens in quick succession: the team has to play five games in just 14 days. Meanwhile, on January 18th, the test run for the cup final will take place away from home when the Berliners compete in the Bundesliga duel in Düren.
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