After all, the third set gave hope. 26:28 against Turkey, the world number one and winner of the Nations League. “We were so close,” said captain Lena Stigrot. “It’s a shame that it wasn’t quite enough.”
But despite all the joy about the final impression in the last preliminary round game at the European Volleyball Championships – in the first two rounds (15:25, 20:25) the German women could only keep up with the favorites from the Bosporus to a limited extent and in the end 0:3 lost.
No good prospects before the round of 16 on Sunday (8 p.m. live on Sportdeutschland.TV) in Brussels against Poland. Since the German women’s volleyball team was only able to win two of their five home games in Düsseldorf, despite considerable support from the Rhenish public, they now meet one of the heavyweights of the tournament. “We didn’t come here to finish third,” said Belgian national coach Vital Heynen, who once won the world championship with Poland’s men, after the end of the preliminary round: “We were convinced that we’d get second place.”
Heynen admitted that he had even dreamed of higher goals after the strong Nations League: “But sometimes you quickly land with your feet on the ground again.” Huge favorite against us.”
Achim Dreis Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 2 Anno Hecker Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 2 Achim Dreis Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 2
But the round of 16 still has to be played, as outside attacker Lisa Alsmeier says: “You grow with your challenges. I think there’s something in there.”
