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Berlin's Benjamin Patch celebrates with Schale and colleagues
Photo:
Andreas Gora / dpa
The Berlin Volleys are German volleyball champions again.
The defending champion defeated VfB Friedrichshafen 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-23, 25-22) in the decisive fifth playoff final on Saturday, ending the series of finals with 3-2 victories.
It was the twelfth title win for the Berliners and the sixth in a row.
This year's final for Berlin was almost over last weekend, Friedrichshafen already had the title match point - but the volleys came back: on Saturday they initially postponed the decision with a 3-0 win in their own hall, four days later they managed a hard-fought 3: 1 in Neu-Ulm to equalize the series.
In the decisive fifth game, the hosts fought their way back to a 1-0 set lead.
The second round clearly went to VfB, the third set remained tight until the end: the lead kept changing, numerous tight decisions had to be revised after video viewing.
Berlin ultimately prevailed and also turned a gap in the decisive set.
Next goal: record champion
This makes Berlin the first club in the history of the men's Bundesliga to win the championship after two defeats.
“It will probably take me a few days to get back to earth.
This evening was a dream for us,” said coach Cedric Enard during the award ceremony.
And managing director Kaweh Niroomand immediately identified the next goal: "Maybe we should now tackle becoming record champions."
The permanent rival from Friedrichshafen holds this record, but only with a lead of winning the title.
The two finalists have dominated German men's volleyball for decades.
In 1997, SV Bayer Wuppertal was the last champion who did not come from Berlin or Friedrichshafen.
sak/sid/dpa
