The Sokol/Post volleyball team drew 1-1 against Oberbank Steelvolleys Linz/Steg in the final series of the Austrian Volley League on Thursday after a hard fight. The 3:2 victory was only certain after more than two hours, with Sokol’s top scorer Lia Berger making the difference. And because of the 15-year-old top talent, the battle for the championship title is far from over. Because after game three on Sunday again in the sports middle school Linz-Kleinmünchen (8:25 p.m., live on ORF Sport+) there will be a break until April 27th before it continues.
The reason for the unusual break is, of all things, U17 international appearances by Berger, the daughter of former European beach volleyball champion Nik Berger and former national basketball player Katja Tutschek. The fact that Berger is the only protagonist of both teams in the final series who is in action is not decisive for the league and its regulations.
“You get totally out of rhythm”
“Of course it’s bad for us as well as for Sokol/Post. You get totally out of rhythm,” says Steg manager Andreas Andretsch. It is now all the more important to at least take the lead again on Sunday before the break is due. The women from Linz haven’t been around at home for a year. Mentally, that’s a huge advantage, says Andretsch, provided the volleyball fans join in like they did last Sunday. “Every spectator counts in the hall, that just makes a huge difference,” says Andretsch. But then you also need more luck.
The sticking point in the defeat in game two was the third set. The Steg women were already in the lead at 20:15 and 23:20 before Berger scored five points in a row with her strong service in the packed Post-Halle and still turned the round. It was the preliminary decision. “They simply played better in the decisive phases and were more consistent,” says Libera Lisa-Marie Hager.
Also successful on sand
Berger was also voted Most Valuable Player (“MVP”) with her 27 points. Already in the previous year in the final duel between the two teams, she was used at 14 as the youngest player in the history of the final in the domestic Bundesliga. She wants to follow in her father’s footsteps, who formed a successful duo on sand with Clemens Doppler from Steyr for many years. At the U18 European Championships in beach volleyball, it was enough for her to win silver. “We have to get a better grip on them on Sunday,” said Steg supervisor Florian Stangl.
Source: Nachrichten
