The Dresden SC volleyball team started the play-off semi-finals with a defeat. Coach Alexander Waibl's shorthanded team lost the first game of the best-of-three series at defending champions Allianz MTV Stuttgart by a clear 0:3 (21:25, 19:25, 19:25). As a result, the team from the city on the Elbe now have their backs to the wall in their own arena next Saturday and absolutely need a win to keep their hopes of reaching the final alive.
The German cup winners had to do without captain and key player Sarah Straube at the start of the semi-final series after she picked up an injury in training. As a result, the third-placed team in the preliminary round only had one player available in the important control position: Larissa Winter.
Stuttgart more experienced and more ruthless
The visitors got off to a very focused start in the first two sets and were able to open up a few points with powerful tasks and good defending. However, the defending champions increasingly showed their qualities in attack, in particular through their exceptional player Krystal Rivers (21 points), and also in defense.
In contrast, the club from the city on the Elbe made a number of easy mistakes, nine on serve alone. Their reception also wobbled a little in the third period. Stuttgart proved to be more experienced and more ruthless in the decisive phases. After 78 minutes, the experienced attacker Maria Segura was able to convert the second match point to win
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