Gold grins of the comeback artists
Created: 02/17/2022, 10:00 am
Happy about the title among the U18 volleyball players from TSV Grafing II (back, from left): Robin Bein, Joshua Huber, Matti Burmann, Leo Lütke-Spatz, Alex van der Straaten, coach Rudi Obermair and (from front) Tim Kaupa, Janno Jell and Simon Paster.
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In the staircase of the junior indoor championships, the U18 volleyball juniors from TSV Grafing are gradually arriving on the interesting floors.
For the fact that the Bärenstadt-based club is the only participating club with two teams at the start of the South Bavarian Championships on March 13 in Augsburg, the second representation put on a brilliant qualifying final sprint.
Grafing
– Without his three top performers Mika Takano, Tristan Mohr (both ill) and Julian Kursawe (injured), TSV coach Rudi Obermair traveled to Mühldorf for the Oberbayern final tournament.
In order to be able to send additional reinforcements after the first substitute, who had already qualified for Augsburg by wild card, a place on the podium was a must.
"Under these circumstances, I would have been very satisfied with the qualification alone", Obermair's talent for improvisation was particularly in demand, since nine Grafinger players were directly or indirectly affected by a corona outbreak in the VCO volleyball boarding school.
The partly unfamiliar positions and the associated increased error rate, the TSV youngsters were able to easily overplay with individual class at the group opener against MTV Munich (2:0).
However, the group victory had to be handed over to TSV Unterhaching (0:2), "because we played like the rabbit in front of the snake," said Obermair.
"Haching was on average a year or two older, but without her setter Noah Primus she wasn't in the best line-up either.
It is completely incomprehensible why our 2007 and 2008 models, which have meanwhile also been experienced, let themselves be played like that.”
Haching also beaten in the final
The subsequent reaction of his protégés to this lesson in terms of dominance was all the more impressive.
Before that, in the semifinals against VC DJK München-Ost-Herrsching and a "completely unsettled referee" in the tie-break, it was necessary to keep your nerves and secure the ticket for the next championship level (2:1).
Then came the revenge for Grafing's offspring against Hachinger in the final.
"We played freely, saw the highest level of the tournament in the second set and Haching built up the game through the middle with a strong series of serves in the third set," said Obermair.
Grafing's now shining diagonal axis around Tim Kaupa and Leo Lütke-Spatz as well as Obermair's "best all-rounder of the 07/08 vintage and father of this success", captain Matti Burmann, really made Unterhaching buckle in the 15:6 tie-break.
"Completely unexpected in this constellation, but well deserved," Grafing's coach finally grinned on the top step of the podium with his comeback artists decorated with gold.
