Laurenz Welsch was somewhat surprised when he was called up to pick up the medal for the most valuable player at BMW Park on Saturday evening. The 21-year-old is a native of Herrschinger, a so-called homegrown product of the WWK Volleys, and in the game against Düren the young man came onto the field at exactly the right time. He brought new energy, scored some important points in blocking and attack – and in the end the Herrschingers and Welsch managed a 3:2 (21:25, 25:20, 24:26, 25:19, 15:11) success. It was their second win in the fifth game of the season – an extremely important two points that allowed the Herrschingers to climb to eighth place after their difficult opening program against Berlin and Friedrichshafen, among others.
Welsch wasn’t even the most noticeable Herrschinger in the success over Düren, which had to go over five sets in each of its games so far. Magloire Mayaula, who has recovered from his abdominal muscle injury, showed a strong game, as did Norbert Engemann, both middle blockers scored 13 points each and blocked opposing attacks on the floor seven times. Setter Eric Burggräf shone with four aces – he made three more than all Düren players combined. And in attack, Herrsching’s new Spanish outside attacker Victor Rodriguez Perez excelled with a rate of almost 70 percent and 16 points.
“The victory was important for self-confidence,” said Welsch, who came on as a substitute for the somewhat hapless Filip John in the fourth set, after the 135-minute thriller. And if they hadn’t simply dropped the ball in the third set when the score was 24:22 – a misunderstanding -, Mayaula wouldn’t have slipped his assumption and if Filip John hadn’t hit the ball into Düren’s block to make it 24:26 – Herrschinger probably would have Won the game even more clearly. At least they remembered their strengths in the tiebreak. Like Burggräf, who once again gave his team the decisive 12:9 lead with strong serves.
