Can VC WIESBADEN cause yet another sensation?

The players, coaching staff and fans of VC WIESBADEN are currently going through a rollercoaster of emotions. The narrow defeat (1-3) to Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA in the first leg of the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup semis last Wednesday was followed by the disappointing loss (1-3) to VfB SUHL Lotto Thüringen on Saturday. This means that VC WIESBADEN will have to compete in the more uncomfortable Group B in the intermediate round of the German Bundesliga. That cannot be changed, but the international stage may well account for an extra boost of energy. When the Italian standout comes to Wiesbaden’s sports hall at Platz der Deutschen Einheit on Wednesday (7 February, 7:30 pm) for the return match, VC WIESBADEN will have the chance to pave its path in Europe with gold – if the team manages to take the wind out of the sails of the highly favoured visitors by delivering a consistent performance. 

Golden Set?

To reach the CEV Challenge Cup Final, VC WIESBADEN would first have to beat NOVARA 3-0 or 3-1 and then go into a decisive Golden Set. The Germans have proved that they can do that against Galatasaray Daikin ISTANBUL when they knocked the Turks out of the competition this past December in their home arena after 145 epic minutes – a turbulent match that has gone down in club history as the ‘victory of the decade’. After that, Greece’s PAOK THESSALONIKI, another representative of a world-famous club, was defeated in the quarterfinals.

First leg thriller in Novara
In the first semi-final match at Novara, the Germans were particularly surprising in the first set. Before the confident Italian favourites could find their rhythm, the huge interactive scoreboard in the Pala Igor, where around 1,000 spectators had gathered, showed a 25-21 lead for the visitors. The Italian supporters had already prepared for their team to go down 0-2 as their heroines were trailing 14-22 in the second set. However, this is when the drama unfolded: VC WIESBADEN somehow lost the thread. NOVARA caught up point after point and eventually took the set 30-28.

It was not easy to come to terms with this setback, and the Germans quite easily conceded the third set 17-25. Spiker Tanja Grosser had secured a 19-15 lead in the fourth set – but her team again lost composure. In the end, the consistency and quality of the former Champions League winners prevailed. Nevertheless, VC WIESBADEN sold itself dearly in Italy, and is now looking for solutions to surprise the prominent opponent whose roster includes elite players such as Vita Akimova and Sara Bonifacio. These two athletes scored 24 and 16 points respectively in the first leg.

The coaches
Both VC WIESBADEN co-coaches Christian Sossenheimer and Daniel Ramirez will be again on the sidelines on Wednesday (and for the next four matches too). Head coach Benedikt Frank must continue to pause after tearing his patella tendon. The Novara team will be, as usual, coached by Lorenzo Bernardi, who has won countless medals as a player and coach and was declared Player of the XX Century by the FIVB together with Karch Kiraly of USA.