Gilles Vandecaveye (right) will get a new chance at home against Haasrode Leuven on Saturday. — © Bart Vandenbroucke
VOLLEYBAL LOTTO VOLLEY LEAGUE – CHAMPION PLAY-OFF: BORGWORM – DECOSPAN MENEN 3-2
I go –
In a marathon match that could have gone either way, Menen took its first point in the play-offs on Wednesday evening in Borgworm. Decospan is still waiting for a first victory. The border team will get a new chance at home against Haasrode Leuven on Saturday.
Menen showed different faces again, but still not a consistent Wednesday evening in Borgworm. Always dependent on chasing and losing without a chance in the first set, dominant and even superior in the second and third turns, only to relinquish control in set four after 9-12. Borgworm won the fifth set with a narrow 25-23 and did not relinquish the final victory after a quick 5-2.
“The first three-pointer seemed close after a weak start, after a weak start, we gained complete control of the match halfway through the second set,” Gilles Vandecaveye remembers. “In set three we played strongly with an obvious 12-25. Borgworm seemed dead, but at 9-12 in set four we were denied a dubious referee decision, we made several mistakes ourselves and frustrations arose. Until 22-23, a 1-3 victory seemed possible, but we again gave it up ourselves.”
Liberation
“It remains painful, but we still have to keep trying,” Vandecaveye concludes. “Also at home on Saturday against Haasrode-Leuven. Hendrik Tuerlinckx and co. are doing very well, with a three-pointer at home against Aalst and a narrowly missed stunt in Roeselare. I still have the feeling that we are very close to that first victory in these play-offs. We still have five games to give everything so that no one, especially ourselves, can blame us. At home against Haasrode Leuven and again next Friday at home against Borgworm, we will have new opportunities to finally win in the play-offs. It would mean liberation for everyone at Menen.”