He had wanted the traditional duel. When BR Volleys coach Cédric Énard was asked a while ago which final opponent he would like to have in his last season in Berlin, he didn’t have to think twice. “Friedrichshafen. That’s the classic.” And the Frenchman received this classic. On Monday evening his team played the first final game in the “Best of Five” series against VfB Friedrichshafen. From the first minute it was a high-class duel at eye level. In the end, however, the volleys came out on top and won 3:1 (25:21; 25:22; 28:30; 25:19) at home.
The guests started the first set strongly and excelled in particular in the block. This made it difficult for Marek Sotola and Timothée Carle to get through with their attacks. Cleverly, the Häfler exploited Berlin’s weaknesses in acceptance, so that the volleys were 7:10 behind early on.
Only a point from Anton Brehme, who hammered the ball into the opposing half, equalized 10:10. After that, the volleys fought their way step by step into the lead and put pressure on the serve in particular. Two aces from Sotola finally sealed the set win.
The volleys got off to a better start in the second set and quickly took the lead. In particular, setter Johannes Tille, who used his attackers cleverly, put pressure on the serve and even hit the ball over the net himself, excelled. Friedrichshafen’s coach Mark Lebedew, who is actually known for his clever challenges, mistakenly accepted the challenge twice.
The mood was on the Berlin side
After that, the volleys took the lead at 18:15 under the protest of the opposing players. Sotola hammered the ball over the net with full force and gave the team a 21:17 lead. A little later he closed the sentence again with an ace.
After that, the mood was on the side of the hosts. But the guests also stayed tuned, and so it went back and forth in the third set. No team was able to pull away clearly. To the thunderous applause of the 6892 spectators, the Häfler defended three and the Volleys two set balls and in the end the point went to Friedrichshafen.
Emotions ran high on both sides in the last set. When Lebedev accepted the challenge with an ace by Ruben Schott, the Berlin fan club 7th man protested and a spectator shouted angrily: “Time game!” The Berliners didn’t let that bother them, but instead developed a lead of more than six points . A serve error by the guests sealed the set win.
Above all, coach Énard beamed and cheered – with relief, but probably also because he was already looking forward to the highly exciting classics to come. The second final game will take place in Friedrichshafen on Thursday.
