08/08/2015 18:47
Amazing comeback gives Denmark win against Austria in arch-rival showdown
2015 CEV Volleyball European League - Men
Aarhus, Denmark, August 8, 2015. In the first match scheduled for the last weekend of pool play in the 2015 CEV Volleyball European League – Men, Denmark was down 0-2 in sets but made an amazing comeback and finally took the win in a thrilling tiebreaker against Austria (23-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-23, 16-14).
The clash between Denmark and Austria was a special showdown as this was the third year in a row where the two teams crossed swords in the European League. Before today’s encounter the Austrians had the most ranking points, but as the number of wins counts first, the Danes could still steal the fourth position from their opponent with two wins on home soil in Aarhus.
But the Austrian team seemed determined to keep status quo in Pool A. Coach Michael Warm troops had their A-game on in the first set and the natural leader on the Austrian team, team captain Alexander Berger, downed seven points in the set. Halfway Austria managed to build a four-point gap, and even though Denmark almost caught up with their guests, Austria took the opening set 25-23.
The second set was yet another even affair. The home heroes in Aarhus could not find their rhythm, but managed to hang on to Austria until 17 all. Then the visitors got a three-point lead and with good help from the seven service errors alone in the second set, Austria also claimed the second set 25-22.
With their back against the wall in the third set the Danes had to dig deep to find a way back in the match. It would have been interesting to hear what their mentor Mikael Trolle said to his players in the break before the third set, because Denmark played with a lot more ease in their game and ran over Austria 25-19.
With a foot back in the match Denmark was hungry for more and had an 8:7 lead at the first technical time-out in the fourth set and 16:14 at the second. Austria sensed the possibility to shatter the Danish dreams of a comeback when they made it 17 all, but the Danes took two points in a row and established the gap that led to their set win at 25-23.
Tiebreak time in Ceres Arena in Aarhus and the two teams fought to come out victorious all even at 5, 6, and 7. Austria was one point up when the two team changed sides, but Peter Trolle Bonnesen (pictured, #15) hammered one of his 33 points home for the Danes to make the score 8 all. The sides kept holding hand until Denmark had two match points on their hands at 14:12. Austria survived them, but Denmark kept their minds cool and closed the tie-break at 16-14 after the line judge called two Danish attacks in to great frustration for the Austrian side.
“It has been a long tournament, and all players are tired and under pressure at this point. Even though we lost the first two sets, all our statistics show that we were doing the right things. That is why we kept focus on our own game and the Austrians began to get tired. This team has throughout the entire CEV European League tournament shown an indomitable will not to give up. They have had the belief that they can win until the very last ball and that approach was rewarded today,” says Mikael Trolle, coach of Denmark.
”I think both teams played a bad match today. Both Denmark and we made many mistakes, and after a long tournament the mental energy is not the same anymore. After the second set we stopped playing, whereas Denmark got back in the match; I do not want to discuss the refereeing, because we had the match in our own hands and could have closed it,” said Austrian mentor Michael Warm.
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