The Berlin Volleys are German volleyball champions again. In the third game of the play-off final against VfB Friedrichshafen on Saturday, the defending champions won 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 16-25, 27-25) and ended the best-of-five series prematurely 3-0 wins. It is the capital club’s seventh consecutive league title and 13th overall. The club is catching up with record champions Friedrichshafen.
In front of 8,553 fans in the sold-out Max-Schmeling-Halle, the BR Volleys initially exercised the dominance with which they had impressed 48 hours earlier in their impressive 3-0 win in Friedrichshafen. After a successful attack by Marek Sotola, the hosts even led the first set by nine points (22:13). Timothee Carle, who was heavily challenged by VfB in acceptance, converted the third set point.
The volleys initially remained stable. With the serve they developed massive pressure on the opponent, especially the setter Johannes Tille excelled in this element. Their strong service also helped the team to many successful defensive actions. In the block, Nehemiah Mote in particular proved to be a bulwark. VfB even failed at one-blocks from Mote to 15:10 and Ruben Schott to 22:13.
In the third round Friedrichshafen took the lead for the first time ever (5:3) after two aces in a row by Michal Superlak and thus gained the security to close the gap to 1:2 after sets. After that it got heated. After a heated dispute between the players at the net, referee Robert Ließ dismissed VfB middle blocker Andre Brown.
The game became more disjointed and dramatic in the fourth period. The BR Volleys were already 17:21 behind, fended off two set balls from the opponent, got the first match point for the championship through Sotola at 26:25, which they then immediately used with a block.
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