The steel volleys bring the cup back to Linz

After a one-year break, the volleyball cup is returning to Linz: the Oberbank Steelvolleys Linz-Steg beat hosts Innsbruck 3-0 in yesterday’s final (25-21, 27-25, 25-15). After the quarterfinals against the Tyroleans last year, the Upper Austrians fixed the fourth cup triumph in the past five years yesterday. “The revenge was successful,” said manager Andreas Andretsch with satisfaction, whose team only lost a single set in the entire cup competition – beating Post 3-1 in the quarter-finals.

However, the clear result is deceptive. “We started very nervously,” admitted captain Lisa-Marie Hager to ORF. The Innsbruckers were able to really challenge the Linzers, especially in the second set, which went into overtime with 27:25. “They made life really difficult for us,” said bridge blocker Sophie Maass.

In tight situations, however, outside attacker Harlee Kekauoha proved her superior form time and time again. Against the attacks of the American, who became top scorer and most valuable player in the final with 20 points, there was no herb in the Tyrolean block. “The button just popped up for her,” Andretsch also referred to the 3:2 win against pursuer Graz last Saturday in the league summit.

Grown together as a team

For the women of Linz, the seventh cup title in the club’s history is the successful conclusion of the most stressful weeks of the season. In addition to everyday league work, the steel volleys have played four games in the Central European League over the past 14 days. In order to speed up regeneration, the club resorted to the Olympic Center’s ice bath. Before leaving for Innsbruck on Sunday, the team had freshened up.

“The past few weeks have been very tough, we had a lot of games,” said Hager. This intensive phase also brought the team closer together. A title celebration was not planned, Hager continued, who at the same time indicated that something like this would work without planning. You would have a routine for that by now.