It was a tasty announcement: “We are on fire” was written on the banner of the Lüneburg fans who had traveled to the game against BR Volleys in the Max-Schmeling-Halle. And indeed, the Lüneburgers really warmed up the Berliners, for whom it was the first game after the Christmas break. But the volleys didn’t let themselves be irritated, held back and won 3:1 (21:25; 25:21; 25:14; 25:23). So they remain undefeated at home.
There was a lot at stake for Lüneburg, who were fifth in the table. Only one point separated them from Giesen, who also played two more games. If they still make it into the top four, they could secure crucial places in the playoffs in the fight for the championship in the second round.
Right at the beginning of the first sentence, the Berlin acceptance was required, because the opponents put a lot of pressure on the serve and so the volleys were directly behind by three points. Just like the Lüneburg block on the courts, the Lüneburg block also stood on the field and made it difficult for attackers Marek Sotola and Timothée Carle to get through with their attacks. Only an ace from the setter Johannes Tille ensured the short-term compensation.
But Lüneburg didn’t give up and diagonal attacker Lukas Maase in particular always stood out and motivated his team. Berlin fended off two set balls, but then Lüneburg closed the set and let the fan block celebrate, which made a good atmosphere.
Lüneburg impressed with a good mood
In the second set, the volleys didn’t allow Lüneburg to pull away directly. The opponents, who made their coach Stefan Hübner shine, were able to win a long rally. But then Ruben Schott scored, whose ball just landed in the opponent’s field and gave his team a lead of 11:8. After that it went back and forth, no team was able to clearly pull away for a longer period of time.
The Lüneburgers cheered every point in an impressive way and pushed each other, but the volleys also showed full concentration and fighting spirit. In the end, Anton Brehme closed the set 25:21.
The momentum was on the Berlin side
In the third set, the momentum seemed to be on the side of the Berliners, who were able to break away early. Carle hammered the ball into the opposing field with full force and scored to 10:4. After that, his team was able to extend the lead to seven points thanks to a strong serve series from Brehme. Unlike at the beginning of the game, the Lüneburg side had little to counter the attacks by Sotola and Carle. And so it was Sotola, who converted the set ball with a whopping eleven points advantage.
It wasn’t quite possible to take the new motivation into the fourth set. The Berliners once again had difficulties getting through against the Lüneburg block and fell behind early on. They had some practice in fighting back and Ruben Schott put down two aces in a row and it was only 11:12. Carle also managed a serve point, giving his team the lead in the set for the first time. Appropriately enthusiastic, he threw his arms in the air and fired up the 3476 spectators, who made a lot of noise. They also helped the volleys take that set as well.
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