Red card decides set one
German aces struggle with their own serve
09/05/2023, 11:17 p.m
The German volleyball players are on par against Serbia for a long time. But with too many mistakes, the team makes it difficult. A tough opponent is now waiting in the round of 16. Every victory is important in terms of the world rankings and the associated Olympic tickets for Paris 2024.
The German volleyball players suffered their first defeat in the fourth group game at the European Championships. The team of national coach Michal Winiarski lost in the Italian Ancona favorite Serbia with 1:3 (22:25, 25:20, 22:25, 18:25). Diagonal attacker Georg Grozer was again the best scorer of the German team with 22 points, the early round of 16 was already certain before the game.
The defeat is now also certain that the selection of the German Volleyball Association will end Group A in third place and thus meet the second in Group C in the knockout round. Germany has eight points, Serbia and world and European champions Italy, against whom the DVV men have to end the group on Wednesday (9 p.m. / Sportdeutschland.TV), are uncatchable with twelve points.
In the game against Serbia, both teams started strong on the offensive. Grozer tried again and again to set the tone with hard punches. The serve was decisive in the end: Germany made too many mistakes, the Serbs created a lot of pressure. Referee Zsolt Mezöffy gave the decisive point for the Serbs. Grozer had quarreled with Aleksandar Atanasijevic. The referee gave both a red card, which meant a point for the opposing team.
In the second round, the Serbs were initially clearly ahead. After a time-out when the score was 2:6, Winiarski’s team improved, took the lead (11:10) – and suddenly everything was going well. Serve, block, grozer. The veteran converted the first set ball to compensate. “Both teams are at their limit,” said assistant coach Thomas Ranner during the break. The German team missed the start of the third set as well, but fought back. But a strong serve series by Atanasijevic brought the Serbs the set win.
The team carried the momentum into the fourth round. The service problems and too many slight mistakes came back for the Germans. The tournament will be played in Italy, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Israel. Every victory is important in terms of the world rankings and the associated Olympic tickets for Paris 2024.