Joy about a successful weekend at the DM in Ludwigsburg with the Grafinger U18 volleyball players and their Fantross. © private
U18 juniors of TSV Grafing finish fifth in a remarkable German indoor volleyball championship.
Grafing/Ludwigsburg – The male U18 team of the Grafingen volleyball players presented itself as a strong unit at the German Championships in Ludwigsburg. In the title fights of the best 16 teams, the protégés of coach Fabian Siegel and scout Florian Zach missed out on the hoped-for medal with fifth place, but the performance of the TSV junior team was worthy of all honour.
After all, they were the youngest team in the tournament, Siegel proudly reported. Only one Grafinger is born in 2006, seven in 2007. "Six of us were born in 2008 and even one in 2009, all of whom can still play in the U16s," explained the Grafinger coach. The squad for the DM included a total of 14 players, and five players also traveled to cheer them on.
Team gives support to their grieving teammate
In general, there was also a lot of support in the stands. The U18 juniors from the Bear City were delighted to have a good 35 fans who created a good atmosphere in the stands on the final day and drove them on loudly. As a community, they delivered a good championship in terms of sport.
But what the troupe particularly mastered was a bereavement in their ranks. Regular player Tristan Mohr had tragically lost his father before the tournament during the week. But his Grafinger team gave the 15-year-old youth national player, who in consultation with the family wanted to be there for his dad Thies, chairman of the Grafinger Volleyball Association, a lot of strength and support, so that he became the best TSV player in Ludwigsburg. From coach Siegel's point of view, he was even the best player of the tournament: "Tristan played outstandingly and carried our team through the game. It proves that the Grafingen volleyball players always stick together."
In the preliminary round, the TSV juniors got into the tournament well. The Schweriner SC was easily defeated with 2:0 sets (25:14, 25:19), Coach Siegel was able to change a lot and give almost everyone who traveled with him playing time. But against TGM Mainz-Gonsenheim, the TSV youngsters struggled to get up to speed. "We came out of the lunch break badly. Maybe we didn't have enough time to warm up," Siegel speculated. His protégés gave up set one with 17:25, after which they woke up and turned the tables to 2:1 (25:16, 15:11). Substitute Lian Halm ended the nail-biter with an ace.
Revenge against Berlin for 2022 final defeat succeeds
In the duel against USC Braunschweig, probably the weakest opponent, the coach spared the strongest attackers Tristan Mohr and Joshua Huber. "Everyone got their chance," said Siegel, explaining the many changes. Nevertheless, it was enough for a safe 2:0 (25:23, 25:19). As group winners, the Bärenstädter qualified directly for the quarter-finals, where they met Potsdam, who had eliminated TSV Mühldorf in the intermediate round.
The Brandenburg juniors were the oldest team in the tournament with predominantly 2006 vintages and caught Grafing on the wrong foot. Siegel's team chased a 1:7 false start in vain and gave up set one with 22:25. "After that, we showed strength and were superior in terms of play," he said, pleased with the 25-17 response to the equaliser.
In the tie-break, however, the more experienced team of SC Potsdam, later runner-up, was ahead again with 15:10. "They were physically superior to us, had more confidence in themselves and were more courageous," said Siegel, listing why they missed out on making it to the semi-finals. "In the end, the small mistakes added up for us."
The fact that it was not enough for a place on the podium and thus a medal caused a great disappointment at first. "The semi-finals would have been a huge success," said Siegel. But after all the quarter-finals were so close, heads would have gone up again. The team had re-committed itself and managed to take revenge in the placement round against SSC Berlin, against whom they had lost the U16 DM final last year. After a 2:1 (20:25, 26:24, 15:11), Grafing's U18s went with great euphoria for fifth place against hosts Barock Volleys MTV Ludwigsburg, who were defeated 400:2 (0:25, 20:25) in front of 21 fans.
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"We have a great depth in the squad and are rightly at the top of the 2006 German class. This gives hope for the next few years," concludes Fabian Siegel. In the end, only small things would have been missing. "We're very happy with just one defeat. Of course, everyone would have liked to have won a medal, but fifth place in the older category is very successful for us." Especially since the "great team cohesion" outshone everything.
Grafing: Matti Burmann, Robin Bein, Lian Halm, Joshua Huber, Janno Jell, Tim Kaupa, Julian Kursawe, Mats Löffler, Emil Mayershofer, Tristan Mohr, Simon Paster, Fabian Singer, Mika Takano, Mika Werner, Fabian Siegel (coach), Florian Zach (scout).