Only in the first set did the Berlin block work against SVG Lüneburg as planned.
Photo: Imago/Anton Hoefel
Nobody could really believe it at first. When the SVG Lüneburg converted its fourth match ball in the decisive golden set, it suddenly became quiet in the Max-Schmeling-Halle. The furious catch-up of the volleys after a 2-3 defeat in the Champions League first leg two weeks ago and a 1-2 set deficit in the second leg on Wednesday was not rewarded with a happy ending from Berlin.
For 158 minutes, the German record champion had been broken up against leaving. Although captain Ruben Schott and the middle blockers Matthew Knigge and Tobias Krick were only partially operational, the Berliners achieved a sovereign first set win (25:13). After that, the volleys also put two hard -fought set losses (twice 23:25) to equalize the first leg in Lüneburg in the fourth (27:25) and fifth (17:15).
Even when the SVG in the Golden Set took the lead with 14:10, the 5211 spectators in the hall-apart from the 100 Lüneburg fans who traveled-believed in a volley wonder. Especially when diagonal attacker Jake Hanes introduced the Berliners with two butterfly balls and an ASS almost single -handedly to 13:14. But after that, the Lüneburgers nullified the last point of the evening and the comeback. “Actually, we believed that we can make it clear here today. In the end of the sixth sentence, everyone is standing and then it wins the team that makes fewer mistakes and that was not us, «said a heavily disappointed Florian Krage, who had previously gave everything for almost three hours to hold the Berlin middle block together.
The end of the premier class in the playoff round caused an unusual feeling among the volley. “This defeat hurts because we did not qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time in a few years,” Berlin’s coach Joel Banks admitted after the marathon match. In the 2019/20 season, the capitals were eliminated the last time before the top eight. In the past few years it was always in the quarter -finals, but after the big squad break before the season, the volleys actually wanted to squint towards the semi -finals again.
The fact that you have now failed on a German team is shaken by several certainties that the Berliners had worked hard. In addition to the fact that the status as a top European team is finally gone for this season, the aura of invincibility, which the volleys were surrounded at, at least in the Bundesliga, is also crumbling. After eight championships and two cup wins as a result, the capitals were almost unbeatable, especially if there was at least one back and forth.
This aura has now evaporated, although the volleys have won all their 22 Bundesliga encounters this season and are already the top team for the playoffs two game days before the end of the main round. After the Champions League defeat against Lüneburg, the Berlin volleyball players seem to be as vulnerable to all previous successes as it has been for a long time. “This shows us that we have to work extremely hard every day, that it is not a matter of course that we are now so far in Germany that we cannot sit back,” warned Florian Krage on Wednesday evening.
At the beginning of the hot season phase, the volleys threaten to lose the rhythm. The wave of disease in the team is an explanation, but Lüneburg also had to replace an important player in Lorenz Karlitzek. Without captain Ruben Schott, the Berliners lack both in the acceptance and in attack on security. This was particularly evident in the second set when a 18:14 lead was lightly given by a 7: 1 run of the Lüneburg. After the game, Joel Banks described this moment as a sticking point for the entire game. “We have to let it sink,” the Brit admitted after leaving.
There is not much time for the trainer and his team. The cup final against Düren is already in Mannheim at the weekend. “We have to put this blow away, look in the mirror and then focus again because we have the next destination on Sunday,” said the 49-year-old, who brought some uncertainty into the volley’s area this week when it became known that he will train the Netherlands from summer. Double functions as a club and national coach are not unusual in volleyball, but now the working paper ends with the Berliners after the season. This is also the highest time that the volleys in the cup final will get a little old certainty back on Sunday.