Volleyball: Berlin Volleys celebrate their opening victory with “brilliant moments”

After the opening victory, there was unity among the Berlin Volleys. The home win against the Grizzlys from Gießen was the perfect start to the new season of the Volleyball Bundesliga. According to successful coach Joel Banks, the game was still “a bit bumpy and sometimes a bit chaotic”. Returnee Moritz Reichert also said after the smooth three-set win (25:16, 26:24, 25:21): »You can tell that not everything is going 100 percent yet. But that’s completely normal.”

In fact, the series champion from the capital is still in the discovery phase. In addition to national player Reichert, who played for the Volleys from 2018 to 2020, three other newcomers from the USA were on the field against Giessen. Diagonal player Jake Hanes, middle blocker Matthew Knigge and libero Kyle Dagostino made up the starting line-up along with German Olympians Reichert, Hannes Tille, Tobias Krick and Ruben Schott.

The volleys in the first set showed how well this newly put together team can harmonize. Buoyed by the joy of reunion of the 5,120 fans in the Max-Schmeling-Halle, setter Johannes Tille immediately made a series of serves to make it 4-0, which forced Gießen to take the first time out. After that, the Hessians came up to 5:4. But then Jake Hanes’ big show began. The 2.12 meter chicken showed with thunderous attacking strokes and an equally powerful series of serves that he can be a more than good replacement for the departed top scorer Marek Šotola. The 26-year-old almost single-handedly extended Berlin’s lead to 12:5. The volleys no longer gave up this comfortable lead as the first set progressed.

The Berliners went into the second set in a relaxed and good mood, but it turned out to be much more difficult. The Champions League participant from Gießen was unimpressed by losing the set and took the lead for the first time with a score of 6:5. As a result, Giessen’s 37-year-old veteran Hauke ​​Wagner extended the guests’ lead to 10:7 with some strong points. A time out by volleys coach Banks didn’t bring any improvement for the time being. The Berliners rarely played their attacks cleanly and were no longer able to get Jake Hanes into the desired finishing situations.

As a result, the Berliners remained two or three points behind for a long time in the second set. Until captain Ruben Schott equalized to make it 18:18. Now the record champions were back in control. Two successful attack shots from Jake Hanes and the next ace – this time from Johannes Tille – made it 23:20. But Giessen once again showed fighting spirit. The Grizzlys fended off two set points and equalized again to make it 24:24.

In extra time of the second set, diagonal player Hanes provided Berlin with the next set point, which returnee Moritz Reichert converted with a powerful attack from behind the center line to make it 26:24. »You could tell that Gießen stepped up a gear in the second set and then we made two or three simple mistakes. But I think it was good for the team feeling that we fought back again,” analyzed the 29-year-old Reichert after the game.

The fact that this good feeling didn’t change until the end of the game was also due to the much more concentrated volley performance in the third set. With Nehemiah Mote in the middle block, Joel Banks brought a little more Bundesliga experience onto the field. As a result, the Berliners managed to control the game a little better. The score remained close for a long time, but captain Ruben Schott (12 points) and Jake Hanes (20 points) were always there in the decisive moments of the third set. A service error by Giessen’s birthday boy Jakob Günthör finally sealed the volleys’ smooth opening victory.

After winning the League Cup last weekend, the record champions also got off to a flawless start in the Bundesliga. Volleys coach Banks still recognized that his team still had room for improvement: “You can see some brilliant moments from our team, but at the moment they are just moments. If we manage to keep everyone healthy, our level can improve significantly.«

The Berliners should have even more fun in the future, especially with Jake Hanes. As the best point collector, the 26-year-old received the award as the most valuable player of the game after his first Bundesliga game. The American then politely passed on the praise: “The fans gave us a lot of energy.” He was happy about the MVP award, but the victory was a credit to the entire team. And the diagonal attacker also emphasized that the team, in which eight of the fourteen players are new, still has to find its feet: “We have a lot of new players. But I think we did a good job fighting through it and winning.”

The competition in the Volleyball Bundesliga should be wary of a well-rehearsed volleyball team in which brilliant moments become the norm.

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