Dresden volleyball players win first round of 16 match

Dresdner SC's volleyball players have put themselves in a good position to reach the quarter-finals of the European CEV Cup. The team of coach Alexander Waibl won the first leg of the round of 16 against SSC Palmberg Schwerin 3:0 (30:28, 25:23, 25:22) in front of 1778 spectators in a hard-fought match. The second leg will be decided next Tuesday in Schwerin. Winning two sets would be enough for the Elbe club to progress.

In the first two periods, Schwerin initially dictated proceedings with powerful tasks and clever blocking and defense. They also made better use of their chances in attack than the DSC. However, in the final phase of the first set, Waibl's charges fought for every ball with passion and increasingly better defense, fending off four set points from their opponents and Jennifer Janiska converted their second set point.

The two teams gave each other nothing away in the second set either, with Dresden once again overturning a five-point deficit and keeping their nerve in the decisive phase. Good serving by substitute Larissa Winter and a strong block were the deciding factors. That gave them confidence. Dresden played at a high level right from the start in the third period and now played all elements of the game more consistently. A mistake by Schwerin ended the duel on the second match point after 88 minutes.