19/03/2017 22:08
BR Volleys with historic chance of making it to Playoffs 6
2017 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Men
Berlin, Germany, March 19, 2017. After a very closely contested first round of the Playoffs 12 in the 2017 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Men between BERLIN Recycling Volleys and ISTANBUL BBSK one week ago, Germany’s reigning national champions expect another match at eye level with the Turkish top team on Tuesday night.
After losing to ISTANBUL BBSK 2-3 (20-25, 32-30, 22-25, 25-20, 13-15) last week, the Germans are counting on their crowd to make what would be a historic success happen this Tuesday night. Last year the Germans claimed as many as three gold medals (national championship, national cup, 2016 CEV Cup), but the qualification for the Playoffs 6 of Europe’s elite club competition would be their greatest international success to date, after they won the 2016 CEV Cup and finished third in the Final Four of the 2015 CEV Volleyball Champions League.
The team of head coach Roberto Serniotti need a straight 3-0 or 3-1 win to move on straight to the next round, whilst a 3-2 tie-break win for BERLIN would result in a Golden Set to be played to determine the eventual winners of this tie. On the other hand, any win of ISTANBUL BBSK would end this year’s international campaign for the BR Volleys.
The hosts are aware of the challenge ahead: “ISTANBUL BBSK are a standout team, having three European champions in their roster. Taking one point from the first match in Turkey was a great success already,” BR Volleys club President Kaweh Niroomand said. “Now we have the possibility to capitalise on this result in our home match on Tuesday.”
“We produced too many errors in service and reception in the first match and needed an entire set to come into play,” the club president recalls, adding: “Thus, reducing our error rate will be crucial for us on Tuesday. Antonin Rouzier is a world-class player, who will always perform on a high level – we will hardly be able to control him for the entire match, but with our fans backing us and creating once more a fantastic atmosphere at Max-Schmeling-Halle, we will have the opportunity to win if we give our best.”
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