Germany - VBL 1. Bundesliga 2016/17

    Wiesbaden proved once more to be very strong at home as Potsdam being relatively weak on the road, so the hosts took an easy three set win (two times -20, once -21) and equalized the quarter series, which will be decided now at the weekend in Potsdam.

    Wiesbaden - Potsdam 3:0 (25:21 25:21 25:20)
    http://live.volleyball-bundesliga.de/2016-17/Women/&2516.pdf
    MVP: Tanja Großer / ?


    I watched only the first 1.5 sets but I guess nothing much different in the rest of the match. Wiesbaden with good serving and full control over Drpa (26%) and Acosta (18% :!: ). Once again I liked a lot the performance of Irina Kemmsies with good distribution and speed, in the beginning she tried to use the middles who were very successful in the first match but Potsdam was better prepared, so Kemmsies altered her game. Strong performance by Tanja Großer.


    Decisive 3rd match next Monday in Potsdam (Monday because of another sports event in their hall on the weekend).

    No surprises today: favorites Schwerin and Stuttgart both won in four sets, got to the semis and the NRW (Northrhine westfalia) are out of race (Aachen, Münster) as excpected. In Vilsibburg the Red Raves took their chances and defeated Dresden in four, the defending champions are still not stable, but vulnerable... so final quarters match will be in Dresden with home team as favorites, but Vilsbiburg with more than neglegtable chances...

    Aachen - Schwerin 1:3 (23:25 25:22 16:25 19:25)
    http://live.volleyball-bundesliga.de/2016-17/Women/&2507.pdf
    MVP: Ariel Gebhardt / Ioana Baciu
    Aachen with a good fight for two sets, then with Dannemiller-Gebhardt instead of Hanke-Lippmann Schwerin was stronger. Also Brinker and Barfield with a good match.


    Münster - Stuttgart 1:3 (17:25 25:19 20:25 20:25)
    http://live.volleyball-bundesliga.de/2016-17/Women/&2510.pdf
    MVP: Linda Dörendahl / Micheli Tomazela
    Judging from the stats Stuttgart is back to their normal level. All attackers with good contribution, so no chance for Münster. Last match for Linda Dörendahl today ;(


    Vilsbiburg - Dresden 3:1 (14:25 25:15 28:26 25:23) :white:
    http://live.volleyball-bundesliga.de/2016-17/Women/&2513.pdf
    MVP: Lena Stigrot / Liz McMahon
    So after a disastrous 1st match on Saturday and a disastrous 1st set today Vilsbiburg could really make the comeback :super: Today they changed their line-up with Stigrot as OPP and Burdine back to OH (which makes more sense than the other way round) and Wagendorp instead of Wezorke as MB (which IMO makes no sense at all :whistle: ). In 3rd set Vilsbiburg came back from 17:22 and defended a set point to win 28:26 and also in 4th set they kept their nerves. Srna Markovic with ONE attack point from 24 attempts :wall: :wall: :wall:


    Decisive 3rd matches:
    Sa, 25.03.17 17:30 Dresden - Vilsbiburg
    Mo, 27.03.17 19:00 Potsdam - Wiesbaden


    If Vilsbiburg wins, the semifinals will be Schwerin - Vilsbiburg and Stuttgart - Potsdam/Wiesbaden, if Dresden wins it will be Schwerin - Potsdam/Wiesbaden and Stuttgart - Dresden.

    Quote from kenny3999

    so another important decision made by the USC Münster:
    trainer Vollmer leaves the club. source
    :white:


    The newspaper of the region writes, that there were differences between players and headcoach. Other possible reasons are: the difficult financial situation of the team and related to this the threat of closing of the federal education base in Münster by the DOSB.

    Quote from StefanS

    The newspaper of the region writes, that there were differences between players and headcoach. Other possible reasons are: the difficult financial situation of the team and related to this the threat of closing of the federal education base in Münster by the DOSB.

    No, I don't think so...
    And now I want to ask you: which players have been promoted to Bundesliga from Stuttgarts academy right now? ^^

    And another question to our Stuttgart fan StefanS here: would you be happy with closing Münster academy although they supported so many talents to national team in the last years?
    Do you have any arguments for closing Münster instead of Stuttgart academy?

    Quote from Nirk

    And another question to our Stuttgart fan StefanS here: would you be happy with closing Münster academy although they supported so many talents to national team in the last years?
    Do you have any arguments for closing Münster instead of Stuttgart academy?


    No, it is a major mistake to close the federal base in Münster. We would need 8 instead of 4 regional bases of this kind in Germany, I think, so the DOSB is doing major damage to our sports this way.


    Münster did well the last years to build new professionals for the league, even better than Dresden, comparable to Schwerin. Remember federal education base is a label, that Stuttgart has just since 2013. So you can't expect too much in this early state; some hopeful young players are not ready yet due to their age. Next year it is likely, that Julia Wenzel will get a contract in first league (unlikely in Stuttgart, because the level for first league players here is pretty high meanwhile, which makes it complicated to promote them directly).

    Quote from Nirk

    And another question to our Stuttgart fan StefanS here: would you be happy with closing Münster academy although they supported so many talents to national team in the last years?
    Do you have any arguments for closing Münster instead of Stuttgart academy?


    I can only guess, why Münster was selected to be closed by DOSB: since their wrong and damaging predator capitilism thinking the most probable cause is, they think, that Münster is currently not investing enough money on their own in the federal base there. At least so far I know, not only the two "richest" clubs Schwerin and Dresden do more on their own in this regard, but also Stuttgart. So far I know, nobody knows exactly, why they have chosen Münster, I'm just guessing. But as mentioned, this is a totally flawed thinking and approach generally... especially in volleyball, where we have definitely too few locations with strong education work.

    Dresden- Vilsbiburg 3:0 (29:27 25:21 25:23)
    http://live.volleyball-bundesliga.de/2016-17/Women/&2514.pdf
    MVP: Myrthe Schoot / Keao Burdine


    Vilsbiburg had 4 set points in 1st set and a 23:19 lead in 3rd but couldn't use that, so as expected Dresden is the 3rd semifinalist and meets Stuttgart.


    Decisive 3rd match Potsdam - Wiesbaden tomorrow 19.00 live on http://www.vbl.tv, the winner will face Schwerin in the semis.

    Quote from Phillip

    What are the odds for this semifinal?


    Stuttgart is the clear favorite, Dresden is sharing this view. I think, they want also to prepare against too high expectations in Dresden after a weak season compared to the last.

    Quote from Phillip

    What are the odds for this semifinal?


    Quote from StefanS

    Stuttgart is the clear favorite, Dresden is sharing this view. I think, they want also to prepare against too high expectations in Dresden after a weak season compared to the last.


    Agree 100%.


    Dresden's only chance of winning hinges on somehow stealing the first contest, which will require Stuttgart to have a horrible match. If they can do that, Dresden might pull off an upset with the second match at home. In this respect I think shortening the series to best of three actually favours Dresden.


    But it's a very small chance at that.

    Potsdam - Wiesbaden 1:3 (19:25 25:16 20:25 21:25)
    http://live.volleyball-bundesliga.de/2016-17/Women/&2517.pdf
    MVP: Marta Drpa / Molly McCage


    So the 5th ranked kicks out the 4th ranked :super:
    Both teams with ups and downs, Drpa with 19 points after 2 sets but slowing down afterwards, still in the end 27 pts with 50% looks very good but she got too little help from her team. In Wiesbaden once again the MBs were the top scorers, well used by Irina Kemmsies. 4th set was totally open until 19:19, then Wiesbaden with two good digs and a lucky ace from McCage went ahead 22:19. Potsdam had the chance to come back to 22:23 but Drpa hit a free ball faaaaar out and after that Wiesbaden used their first match point.


    So the semis are Stuttgart-Dresden and Schwerin-Wiesbaden. Wiesbaden has won both regular season matches against Schwerin, but the playoffs are a totally different story.


    First semifinal matches:
    Saturday 1 April 19.30 Stuttgart - Dresden
    Wednesday 5 April 19.00 Schwerin - Wiesbaden


    Due to Schwerin playing Challenge Cup semifinal the league semis were reduced to best of three series instead of the planned best of five which will take place only in the final series.


    But only if Bursa throws out Schwerin in Challenge cup semis, which is far from sure; if Schwerin proceeds to finals (I guess against Krasnoyarsk, happy travelling to Eastern Sibiria :( ), even the final series will be shortened from best of five to three.