Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, December 16, 2015. After coming back from two sets down to claim a tie-break win at home two weeks ago, Germany’s SWD powervolleys DÜREN secured their promotion to the quarterfinals of the 2016 CEV Volleyball Cup – Men after pocketing the first and second sets of their re-match with Jihostroj CESKE BUDEJOVICE on Wednesday night. They eventually finished the job in three sets (25-20, 25-20, 25-19) and in the next round coming up in January they will most probably play Italy’s standout Sir Safety-Sicoma PERUGIA.

The visitors from Germany played with high intensity right from the start of the match and they stood out especially at blocking and serving. Still the Czechs were able to keep their opponent’s rhythm up to 15 all. Towards the end of the opening set, the SWD powervolleys showed a very solid performance and eventually brought the period to an end at 25-20. “We have to improve in reception and avoid making so many mistakes,” Czech mentor Jan Svoboda said at the end of the first set.

His players responded well and stepped up their efforts in all fundamentals and especially Brazilian Daniel de Souza Maciel performed well in the second set. Jihostroj’s setter Filip Habr played his best and scored also some aces. However, the Germans did not give in and with their second 25-20 win, they secured their promotion to the next round of the competition. “The second period was a lot tougher than the opening one. Jihostroj’s players were supported by a raucous audience and played better and better. However, we are a strong team and I think that we deserved to win this set as well,” said after the match the best player from the visiting team, Chilean Sebastian Gevert.

The SWD powervolleys made almost no errors in the third set, killed a few blocks and Gevert added two aces to his personal tally. Jihostroj stood no chance and even though the audience was just great and contributed to a terrific ambiance, this was not enough to help the home team win at least one set. The visitors from Germany pocketed the third set 25-19 and got the right to continue their European journey. “It was a hard match as Jihostroj is a very good team,” said their mentor Anton Brams. “We prepared very well for this match and we also had a little luck on our side tonight.”

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