The volleyball players of VfB Friedrichshafen are about to win the German championship. The team from Lake Constance achieved a 3-1 win (19:25, 30:28, 25:15, 25:16) against defending champions Berlin Volleys on Wednesday evening and thus their second victory in the best of five final series. VfB surprisingly won the first game in Berlin 3-2. With another success on Saturday in the capital, Friedrichshafen can secure the 14th championship title in the club’s history.
In front of 1,000 spectators in the sold-out Friedrichshafen Arena, the Berliners got off to a better start. Above all, Johannes Tille’s serves gave the team support. Marek Sotola also proved to be a busy collector of points during this phase.
But the volleys were unable to maintain their initial dominance. With the score at 8:12 in the second set, they had to cope with the shock that their captain Ruben Schott limped off the field with a foot injury. Cody Kessel replaced him. At the end of this round things got dramatic. The Berliners missed a set point at 26:25, but then had to admit defeat with their opponent’s seventh set point.
The guests had nothing to gain after the unfortunate loss of a set. A self-confident VfB then clearly dictated the action with energetic attacking actions. Friedrichshafen’s diagonal attacker Michal Superlak in particular consistently exploited the gaps in the opposing defense.