The German volleyball players started the European Championships at home with a commanding victory. The team of national coach Vital Heynen beat Greece 3:0 (25:19, 25:21, 29:27) in the Castello Düsseldorf.
In front of 1256 spectators, only the injury-related replacement of hopeful Hanna Orthmann caused a damper.
There was no sign of nervousness among the Germans at the beginning. The team quickly led 7:3 in the first set. Every point was greeted with loud cheers from the Düsseldorf audience. But after her point to 13:10, Orthmann, often the most successful attacker recently, had to be replaced and treated on his left leg. She didn’t come back into play. But even without the 24-year-old, the team won the set by a clear margin.
“If one goes out, someone else jumps in”
In the second round, the hosts quickly made it 4-0, but the set remained balanced for a long time. But whenever the 31st in the world rankings approached, the German team was able to quickly pull away again. Outside attacker Lina Alsmeier and Marie Schölzel provided important points.
“We’re a team. If one goes out, someone else jumps in,” said Heynen between sentences two and three about Orthmann’s failure. In the third round, the Greeks were initially just ahead. The German team struggled in defense. The Belgian coach made his dissatisfaction clear during a time-out. At 24:21 the set seemed lost, but the DVV team fought back with a block from Stigrot and two points from Camilla Weitzel. In the end, a Greek ball out of bounds provided the necessary two-point lead.
In the second preliminary round match, Germany meets Azerbaijan on Saturday (8 p.m. / Sportdeutschland.tv). The four best teams from the group of six advance to the round of 16 in Belgium.
