24/02/2019 19:00
#MissionMannheim ends with 16th national cup title for VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN
News from the National Federations
Mannheim, Germany, February 24, 2019. VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN have further underpinned their status as Germany’s most successful club with an impressive performance, as on Sunday the ‘Häfler’ stormed to a 3-0 victory (25-23, 25-18, 25-16) in the final of the national cup with SVG LÜNEBURG to secure their 16th title in the competition. A huge crowd of 10,287 spectators witnessed a real show of strength from the team coached by Vital Heynen at SAP Arena in Mannheim.
Actually, the outsiders of SVG LÜNEBURG got the much better start as they claimed a 15-12 lead in the first set. The recipe was simple: their serving game caused some problems to the receivers of VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN and the underdogs continued to set the pace of the game at 21-19. However, this is exactly when the team from the Lake of Constance struck back.
They won a couple of long rallies with a good block-defence to move the score to 21-21. The outsiders made some mistakes and their net violation sealed a 25-23 win for the favourites.
It was obvious that this was the turning point of the game. The first set had cost much energy to the players of SVG LÜNEBURG while VfB setter Jakob Janouch was able to distribute the balls according to his wishes. With Philipp Collin, Athanasios Protopsaltis and David Sossenheimer, as many as three VfB players scored five points each in the second set. VfB moved up to 21-13, before a quick attack from middle blocker Jakob Günthör finished the second set at the score of 25-18.
SVG LÜNEBURG had eliminated the German champions BERLIN Recycling Volleys in the semi-final after coming back from a 0-2 deficit, and they still fought for more glory. However, even an 8-5 lead in the third set was not enough to change the course of the game. VfB continued to play concentrated and used their first match point to seal a 3-0 victory.
Vital Heynen, coach of VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN: “I knew that if we play our game, things will be very difficult for LÜNEBURG. The first set was the sticking point; afterwards, we played our game and did so in a smart way. We definitely had an advantage when it comes to this type of matches where a title is at stake. We found our form at the right time and got the game under control after a tight start. Then I saw the Volleyball I want from my team.”
Stefan Hübner, coach of SVG LÜNEBURG: “It is always very difficult against VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN. They have the ability to playfully and tactically change something and make quick adjustments. For a long time we did not find the right answers after a good start. It is a bit sad because two or three of my players did not show what they could do, especially in the second and third sets.”
Davis Sossenheimer, outside hitter of VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN: “Winning the cup means hard work every year. SVG LÜNEBURG made life very difficult for us in the first set, but we stayed calm because we knew how to control the situation. In the end, we played confidently until the end. We are very happy about the victory.”
|