Dhe German volleyball players were eliminated in the first knockout round of the European Championships. The team of national coach Vital Heynen clearly lost to favorite Poland in the neighborhood duel in Brussels with 0:3 (22:25, 20:25, 24:26) and missed the round of the top eight.
This ended a very disappointing tournament for the selection of the German Volleyball Association (DVV). In the preliminary round group C in front of a home audience in Düsseldorf’s Castello, Germany finished in a weak third place with two wins and three defeats. The goal of collecting important points for the world rankings and thus putting yourself in a better position for a possible Olympic qualification via the ranking was clearly missed.
The focus of the German team is now on the second possible route to Paris: From September 16th to 24th, Germany will be fighting five other teams in Lodz, Poland, for two of the coveted Olympic tickets.
In the Belgian capital, the DVV women went into the neighborhood duel as clear outsiders. “Poland are the big favorites against us,” Heynen emphasized before the game. Nevertheless, captain Lena Stigrot had hopes. “Maybe the change of hall is the key now and we’ll play a really good game,” she said. After all, the team played against Poland several times this summer and it was always very close. “Maybe they’re just due now,” Stigroth said.
Anne Hölzig suffers a serious knee injury
Initially, however, it was a lot of mistakes that made Germany fall behind. The Heynen team then fought their way into the game step by step, with Lina Alsmeier in particular convincing as she scored points. In the end, too many German mistakes prevented the set from being won, and Poland took the lead with a score of 25:22.
Germany started better in the second set and initially pulled away 6-2. But the momentum didn’t last long, the Poles quickly turned the set clearly in their direction. In the hard-fought third round, the German team had to cope with a presumably serious knee injury suffered by Anne Hölzig.
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