Volleyball – battle day for the volleys in the premier class

The balance after ten games of the season remains flawless. Even after the start of the Champions League on Tuesday evening against ACH Volley Ljubljana, the Berlin Volleys remain unbeaten. After the first game in the premier class, it is also clear that the German record champions – unlike in the Bundesliga – have to fight for every victory.

“You first had to get to that level and then it got better and better – not consistently, but at least to some extent,” explained Volleys managing director Kaweh Niroomand after the duel against the Slovenian champions, which remained close over four sets. The Berliners had to overcome difficult phases, especially in the second and third rounds, so Niroomand summed up his feelings after the end of the game as follows: “Relief, definitely. It was a bit close.”

The Berliners were highly concentrated and started the game without making any mistakes. Thanks to setter Johannes Tille, the attacks were precise and flexible in the first set, so that the volleys were able to build a five-point lead, which they didn’t relinquish until the end of the set (25:20). However, a change by the Slovenians in the second half caused a break. After the volleys took the lead again, Ljubljana brought in diagonal attacker Amir Golzadeh. The 21-year-old Iranian almost single-handedly turned the game around with his shots.

“He hit every ball at full speed and always managed to get past the block or somehow hit it, and maybe we let that frustrate us a little too much,” admitted Johannes Tille after the game. Because Berlin was no longer able to use its own attacks cleanly in this phase and volley diagonal attacker Jake Hanes was weak, Ljubljana secured the second set with 25:23.

»We had a chance of making the preliminary decision in the second set, but this is the Champions League. That is the difference we felt today. Nothing is given to you here, you have to earn it,” analyzed volleys coach Joel Banks. The fact that the Briton was still satisfied was also due to his team’s fighting qualities: “We struggled, but we found our way through it.”

Things didn’t look good for the volleys for a short time in the third round. Berlin took the lead again and Ljubljana came back again through Golzadeh and outside attacker Matej Kök and turned the game around at 17:16. But this time Berlin didn’t let themselves be unnerved and was able to avert the set deficit thanks to Jake Hanes. The 2.12 meter tall American successfully completed several attacks in the decisive phase of the third period and played a major role in the narrow 26:24 set win.

“He can make the difference for us in the future, but we have to be patient and the setter has to put him in a good position,” said Volleys boss Niroomand, praising his diagonal attacker, who continued to finish strongly in the fourth set and in his first champions -League game was top scorer with 26 points ahead of Ljubljana’s Golzadeh (23 points). Because Berlin’s middle block worked better and better as the game went on, the volleys were able to control the fourth section better again. Matthew Knigge and Tobias Krick repeatedly ensured successful defensive actions in important moments at the net. In the end, the twelve direct block points from the volleys were only matched by four from Ljubljana, a decisive advantage that the former volley middle blocker Sašo Štalekar was unable to change when he returned to Berlin. Johannes Tille finally converted the second match point to make it 25:21.

»The potential of this team is incredibly high. What we showed tonight wasn’t our best level, hopefully we’ll achieve that in April and May,” explained Joel Banks after the game. In May, in addition to the decision in the Bundesliga, there will also be the semi-finals and finals of the Volleyball Champions League, which will be held in Final Four mode this year for the first time since 2018. However, there is still a long way to go until then. First, the Berliners have to prevail in Group A against Ljubljana, Maaseik from Belgium and the slightly favored Poles from Warsaw. Only the first in the five groups will definitely make it to the quarter-finals. The runners-up and the best third place in the group play for the other quarter-final places.

Most recently, the Berliners reached the last eight four times in a row. In order to make it to the Final Four this time, which would mean we are only two wins away from the title, we need a little more, says setter Tille: “We have a lot of points that we can work on. Above all, we have to become more consistent.” There will be plenty of opportunities for this until Christmas. Because of the start of the Champions League, the Volleys regularly have two games a week.