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The players, staff and officials of Germany’s VC WIESBADEN are determined to make their journey across as many as three competitions last for as long as possible. Next to their duties in the Bundesliga and the German Cup, VC WIESBADEN are chasing further glory in the CEV Challenge Cup as well, and on Wednesday night they will vie for a spot in the 8th Finals when they play the re-match with Belgium’s Bevo Rekkenshop ROESELARE following their 3-1 victory away from home last week.
Bevo Rekkenshop currently sits in third place in the Belgian Lotto Volley League with six points from three matches. On Sunday, Servantes Volley Noorderkempen lost 1-3 to Bevo Rekkenshop at Tomabel Hall in Roeselare. Outside hitter Laure Flament scored 18 points. VC WIESBADEN, on the other hand, occupy the seventh place in the German Bundesliga with five points from five games after losing 1-3 at SC POTSDAM last Saturday. Since winning their Germa Cup game in Erfurt (3-2 on November 4), the Hessians have been playing on a Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday rhythm, which would continue until mid-December, if they manage to reach the 8th Finals of the Challenge Cup. Therefore, the coaching staff has been adjusting the training load individually in terms of scope, intensity, and technique.
For head coach Benedikt Frank, the first leg of the CEV Challenge Cup against ROESELARE was “as expected, a close match against a tactically good team, that was very focussed at all times.” In the fourth set, however, his side finally cracked the Belgian team’s system - the 25-16 win at the end was crystal-clear. The Germans had 52 successful attacking points vs. 43 from the team of head coach Koen Devos. BEVO, on the other hand, had the edge in the number of kill blocks (13 vs 9); the best blocker in the Tomabel Hall was Rachel Anderson (USA) of VC WIESBADEN together with Iris Vandewiele for the hosts. Both teams scored four aces each. The top scorers were Kory White (for Bevo with 21 points) and Izabella Rapacz (with 18 for VC WIESBADEN) - both playing as opposite hitters.
If VC WIESBADEN manage to win another two sets on home soil, the Germans will continue their journey in the 8th Finals. Their likely opponents would then be Galatasaray Daikin ISTANBUL of Türkiye. The highly favoured Turks were clearly superior in the first leg crashing Finland’s HÄMEENLINNA LR in just 73 minutes (3-0; 25-14, 25-18, 25-13). Interesting note: Galatasaray has been coached by former SC POTSDAM’s head coach Guillermo Naranjo Hernández since earlier this summer.