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Bestensee (dpa) - outside attacker Theo Timmermann caught the right moment for the few words to his teammates.
"When we were 0: 2 behind, I said to them: Now we're off for us, we already know it," said the 24-year-old after the 3: 2 (20:25, 23:25, 25:23, 25:23, 16:14) - victory of the Netzhoppers KW-Bestensee against the Grizzlys Giesen.
Due to the home game success on Wednesday evening, the Netzhoppers initially climbed back to a playoff spot in the volleyball Bundesliga.
Tie-break games are almost a habit for the Netzhoppers: For the eighth time this season they were challenged in a competitive game in a five-set duel, and for the sixth time they left the field as winners.
Due to the two lost sets against Giesen, however, the team lost a point.
The Netzhoppers are eighth five game days before the end of the main round with 20 points, but have played two more games than the ninth, the SVG Lüneburg (19 points).
"We just played badly in the first two sets," said Netzhoppers libero Kamil Ratajczak.
Coach Christophe Acht responded with substitutions.
For the diagonal position, James Jackson came in for the less powerful Johannes Mönnich, in the external attack Timmermann replaced Dirk Westphal, who was affected by back problems.
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After that it went better.
"I was able to bring in a bit of a breath of fresh air, but in the end the team performance was decisive," said Timmermann.
Most of the fuss in the attack was caused by the Netzhoppers Karli Allik.
The Estonian convinced with 20 points.
Both teams were consistently at eye level: four of the five sets ended with the minimum gap of two points.
"It was a very, very intense game," said Giesen's attacker Hauke Wagner.
But he also had to admit: "From the third set on, the Netzhoppers played a lot smarter than before."
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210204-99-296255 / 2
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