Steel volleys reach fifth final in a row

INNSBRUCK. The favorites faltered, but they didn’t fall: The volleyball players from Oberbank Steelvolleys Linz-Steg also won the second semi-final of the “Best of 3” series in Innsbruck. After 133 minutes, Brooke Botkin, who was the top scorer with Harlee Kekauoha (23 points each), used the match point to win 3-2 over the Tyroleans. “If all my players fight for each other, we’re really good,” Linz coach Facundo Morando said of the fact that his team showed two faces. “We have some players in our ranks who can put their stamp on the game. That led us to the final,” continued the Argentine.

In their fifth league final in a row, Steg will face record champions Sokol/Post in the “Best of 5” series that begins on April 9 in Linz-Kleinmünchen, who won 3-1 at home against Graz on Saturday (2nd place). :0 end of series).

Ried gritted his teeth

The favorite faltered a second time in Innsbruck, but didn’t fall again: The UVC McDonald’s Ried men brought title contender Hypo Tirol to the brink of defeat at 2:3. Led by Niklas Kronthaler, who was the top scorer of the game with 28 points, the Innsbruckers ultimately retained the upper hand in the third match of the “Best of 5” semi-final series. In the second pairing, Aich/Dob took a 2:1 lead thanks to a 3:0 in Hartberg.

In the relegation round, Supervolley OÖ/Wels/Steyr celebrated a 3-0 home win over Liebenau/Graz, which put the Upper Austrians third after four of eight rounds behind Sokol and Klagenfurt.