Frankfurt, Germany, April 1, 2017. The adventure has come to an end for the United Volleys RHEINMAIN in the 2017 CEV Volleyball Cup after a thrilling 2-3 (25-17, 22-25, 25-27, 25-15, 12-15) home loss to TOURS VB. However, what a great finale it was for the rookies of the competition and almost 2,500 supporters in Fraport Arena. Once again, the German team proved that they were able to keep up with one of the big names on the European Volleyball stage.  

The chance for another sensation was even closer than one might expect from a 3-2 result after the United Volleys had lost 0-3 the first matchup earlier this week in France. The first set was a demonstration of the hosts’ determination with setter Jan Zimmermann showing his service skills to move the score straight from 18-17 to 25-17. Once again, it was team captain Christian Dünnes, who took the lead in the last international match of his career, scoring an impressive haul of 29 points. The French block and defence had almost no chance to stop the former national team player’s attacks.

Set two seemed and easy one for TOURS VB, starting with great services from Canadian Ryley Barnes resulting in a massive 8-1 lead.  Still, after leading 24-17 the visitors needed five more set points against the German team. The real thriller happened in set three when the United Volleys had several chances to make it 2-1 and raise even more hope for another chapter of their successful European journey. However, in the end it was for TOURS VB to celebrate, showing quite some relief after a great performance from both teams.

With 20-year-old Jannis Hopt stepping in for Jan Zimmermann, the United Volleys were able to show some more of their potential in a one-sided fourth set, but in the end the French earned their victory with a lot of experience and individual class.

“We really challenged a European top-level team today and should not be too sad,” United Volleys head coach Michael Warm stated. “This was some great advertisement for Volleyball, although I would have loved to end my career in the finals against TRENTINO,” said top scorer Christian Dünnes. One thing is for sure: the United Volleys RHEINMAIN did definitely not make some April Fools of themselves and there is a lot more to expect from this team in the future.

Click here for more info including detailed stats of the match