LINZ. It’s in the nature of things that home law changes in a “Best of 5” series. The fact that the Steelvolleys Linz-Steg before the league final series against Sokol / Post (8:27 p.m. live on ORF Sport plus) that begins today is still talking about the “finale at home” is because they did not play a game in the home hall when they won their two titles in 2019 and 2021 could. Since that Urfahraner Georg-von-Peuerbach-Halle was too low for the regulations, the team around captain Lisa-Marie Hager moved to the modernized hall in Linz-Kleinmünchen this season – and after finals in Enns, Steyr or most recently Amstetten now has actually home advantage.
So that this is reflected in the volume, manager Andreas Andretsch hopes for several hundred fans. While it is clear with the finals that Steg will nominate for the European Challenge Cup again next season, a lot is still uncertain for the women from Linz. Above all, the trainer question is enthroned. Successful coach Roland Schwab, who led the club to two championships and three cup victories, will focus on his new job as the Austrian women’s national team coach from the summer. According to OÖN information, his successor will be Facundo Morando. The Argentinian led VC Tirol into the league semifinals this year, where they lost to Sokol/Post. Andretsch did not want to confirm the personnel yesterday.
There will be comings and goings within the team. “The upheaval will be even bigger than last summer,” says Andretsch. At that time, six players, including four from the basic six, had left the club. This year, that should apply to set player Anna Trauner, who is about to return to Perg. Sophie Maass could switch back to Linz after her guest performance in Graz.
Waldviertel leads in the men’s final series 2:0
Thanks to a 3-1 win on Saturday in Aich/Dob, the volleyball team from the Union Raiffeisen Waldviertel made it 2-0 in the “Best of 7” final series for the Austrian championship title. “But there’s still a long way to go,” warns assistant coach Michal Peciakowski. It would be the first championship title for Waldviertel.
Source: Nachrichten
