Curse broken – SVG Lüneburg celebrates first cup victory after thrilling tiebreak
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At the fourth attempt, SVG Lüneburg broke its final curse and won the Zoi DVV men’s Cup for the first time. In the final, Stefan Hübner’s team played a thrilling match of the highest calibre against record cup winners VfB Friedrichshafen in front of a crowd of 12,508 spectators in the sold-out SAP Arena in Mannheim, ultimately celebrating a narrow 3-2 victory (27-25, 21-25, 25-16, 21-25, 15-8). It is the first title in the history of SVG.
“All good things come in fours,” said Lüneburg's coach Stefan Hübner before the match – and he was right. After four defeats in the final – all against VfB Friedrichshafen – his team triumphed for the first time and were able to lift the trophy. For more than two hours, both teams fought an intense, exciting, and high-class battle at the SAP Arena.
The match started completely evenly, with neither team able to pull away decisively. In the end, Lüneburg narrowly secured the first set. The second set was also back and forth, before Friedrichshafen was able to pull ahead decisively in crunch time. The third set went to SVG by a slightly wider margin, but VfB did not let that rattle them and forced a tiebreak. In the fifth set, Lüneburg applied more pressure from the start and left no doubt that they wanted to win the first title in the club's history. When Daniel Gruvaeus converted the first match point, the players, coaches and numerous Lüneburg fans celebrated wildly. Long after the award ceremony, chants of ‘SVG’ echoed through the SAP Arena.
“It feels great and I am also a little relieved. We finally have the title; this club and these people deserve the trophy. I am really happy for us and the club. It was a very good game, we gave the spectators an awesome match,” said Lüneburg setter Santeri Välimaa after the victory. The Player of the Match was also thrilled by the atmosphere in the SAP Arena: “The atmosphere was fantastic. Everyone was quite far away, but you could feel the Lüneblock right next to the court with us. We had really great support and we needed it.”
Stefan Hübner“I do not define myself by titles, but I like to win. I am delighted that we won today and that it is our first title. This is an incredible moment for the club and for all of us, for the players, the coaches and everyone involved. It was a close, super-intense match. Both teams deserved to win. It was an open exchange of blows, with the momentum swinging back and forth. We then got off to a very good start in the fifth set, which was important.”
Head coach of SVG Lüneburg
On the other hand, the disappointment was great for Friedrichshafen after missing out on their 18th title: “It was a super close game. It would be a lot of fun to be out there celebrating now. It was a great atmosphere, everyone was up for a Volleyball party and we delivered,” said Louis Kunstmann after the narrow defeat. “It was a very good game, but we missed our start in the fifth set. Lüneburg received and defended a little better today, which may have made the difference.”
SVG top scorer Ethan Champlin (21 points): “It feels unbelievable, my team has worked very hard all season. It was a big battle, five long sets. The victory feels incredibly good, I am very happy for my team. We are going to celebrate properly with our fans now.”
SVG captain Jesse Elser: “Our team has a superpower, namely our bond, our relationships. We have tremendous energy, which helped us today.”
‘Player of the Match’: Monika Brancuska and Santeri Välimaa
At the subsequent award ceremony, Benjamin Hermann, CEO of Zoi, and Mannheim’s Lord Mayor Christian Specht presented the medals to the runners-up. Roosa Laakkonen, captain of VfB Suhl LOTTO Thüringen, and Jesse Elser, captain of SVG Lüneburg, then accepted the DVV trophies from DVV President Markus Dieckmann and VBL Managing Director Kim Oszvald-Renkema amid a shower of golden confetti. Friedemann Bausch, Executive Vice President of DEKRA Automobil GmbH Germany, honoured the referees. The ‘Player of the Match’, opposite hitter Monika Brancuska from VfB Suhl LOTTO Thüringen and Lüneburg's setter Santeri Välimaa, were honoured by Alexander Kaiser, authorised signatory for strategic partnerships at FINN GmbH.
After eleven years, the Zoi DVV Cup Final celebrated a fitting farewell to Mannheim with two highly exciting five-set thrillers in front of a record crowd. The next edition will take place on 27 February 2027 at the LANXESS arena in Cologne.
Pictures courtesy of DVV / Justus Stegemann and Kevin Mattig