Anna Pogany (r.) and Lena Stigrot still believe in their last chance to qualify for the Summer Games in Paris.
Photo: image/Newspix
It wasn’t even eleven months ago that the German volleyball players dreamed of their first Olympic participation in 20 years. In the Nations League on June 27, 2023, they had just defeated their direct opponents from the Dominican Republic and had moved up to ninth place in the world rankings. Tenth place is probably enough for the last ticket to the games in Paris. But then a crisis began that is still ongoing. The German Volleyball Association (DVV) team is now in twelfth place, a long way behind tenth place. In order to make it, you need a little luck and a really strong early summer in the Nations League. And that begins for the Germans this Wednesday in Antalya against Olympic hosts France.
Captain Anna Pogany and her team still have until June 16th to make up the almost 60 point gap to the Dutch and overtake the Canadians in the process. Theoretically this is possible, the DVV selection will face both teams directly, but two wins alone will not be enough for the Olympics. You also have to manage one or two surprises against even more well-known opponents in order to make big steps in the world rankings. At the same time, the other teams are not allowed to score the same points. So the coming month could be one of eternal calculations.
Provided, of course, that the German volleyball players can finally put their crisis behind them. It started with the home European Championships in Düsseldorf in autumn 2023. The best German attacker, Hanna Orthmann, injured her knee so badly in the opening game that she is still unable to play again six months later. The shock was so deep that her colleagues lost to the weaker ranked Czechs and Swedes. A European Championship to forget not only ended early in the round of 16, but also with a drop in the rankings of 23 points, while the third-placed team from the Netherlands gained almost 30 points. As expected, the Germans did not make it to one of the top two places at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Poland, so the only route left is through the world rankings.
But that’s not enough. Just as the team wanted to prepare for the new season, the last big shock came: Vital Heynen, the national coach who had led the German women back to the top in the world with his idiosyncratic but often successful style, threw the ball in mid-April Towel because he wants to take a probably much higher paying job in China. The long-time coach of Dresdner SC, Alexander Waibl, stepped in. Even if it represented the players’ desired solution, ideal preparation for the Nations League was no longer an option. »We only had the entire team together in training for three days and are now playing against the top nations. Of course you would like a different starting point,” summarized Waibl. “Maybe that’s the special thing we need to release even more energy.”
Despite all the setbacks of the past year, his players also exude a similar optimism. »There is an incredible anticipation. Our dream is alive,” said captain Pogany recently at the training camp in Kienbaum, where the focus was still on strength units. Because that was quite a hassle, the test match on Friday in Potsdam against the second-rate Romanian team only resulted in a narrow 3-2 win, which was unable to spark any euphoria.
Now it’s time to quickly practice Waibl’s new systems. »Vital Heynen had a very male-oriented style of volleyball. In their clubs, my players are used to systems that are more typical of women’s volleyball throughout the year, so I will return to those in some points,” said the new national coach, outlining his philosophy, which the team apparently shares. »I felt from the start that everyone was keen to train. The mood is really good,” says Waibl. Lena Stigrot, who played under him for years in Dresden, also welcomed the fact that the focus was now being placed on technology instead of more on tactics. “That gives us more security, and we like that,” said the outside attacker.
Libera Anna Pogany is now hoping for a strong start: “The first week will show the way.” No wonder: in Turkey, after France and Turkey, they will also have to deal with Japan and the Netherlands. Two nations that could still be caught up in the world rankings. But no one wants to do long-term calculations, especially since teams that have already qualified for the Olympics with unusually weak performances can really mess up the rankings. »It will therefore be important that we don’t deal with it at all. We just have to think about the upcoming international match. And then onto the next one,” warned Waibl. The rest is in foreign hands anyway.
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