WHow tight things are in the men’s volleyball Bundesliga this year is shown by the jump that the Grizzlys Giesen were able to make over the weekend. With a tie-break defeat at the champions in Berlin and a clear success with the VCO junior team, which is also based in the capital, the Lower Saxony catapulted from ninth to fourth place. The United Volleys, who now take their place directly behind the eight play-off places, are only one point behind, but have already played one more game.
Although the second half of the season is already underway, the two teams will meet for the first time this season this Thursday (7.30 p.m.) in the ball sports hall. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, a previously planned duel had been postponed. The Frankfurters must expect a considerable weakening. Your best outside attacker Tim Grozer will probably not be available again. The 22-year-old is suffering from inflamed knees and is undergoing shock wave therapy.
The younger brother of the former German national player Georg Grozer got off to a rapid start in last year’s runner-up. But since November he was thrown back by injuries: First the strong impactor was slowed down by an inflammation of the foot, then a torn muscle fiber in the calf and a pinched nerve with tingling in the hand. The recent complaints frustrate the ambitious scion of a volleyball dynasty who, after completing his training at a savings bank, now wanted to concentrate one hundred percent on the sport and wanted to step out of the shadow of the successful family in Frankfurt.
“I’m not a player who likes to sit on the bench,” says Grozer. In Rottenburg, despite his youth, he enjoyed the role as a regular. After the professional team there was dissolved, the newcomer in Hesse took on responsibility from the start. After the defeat against Düren on Sunday, which he had to watch, he saw himself at the end of his patience. The Hungarian-born redhead openly criticized the club’s management and their squad planning.
In order to save costs in this difficult season, the volleys did not fill all twelve mandatory places with full professionals. Talents from the volleyball boarding school fill the gaps. Due to school conditions, these are not always available, so that sometimes only eight players practice in the winter sports hall. According to Grozer, this leads to overload. Everyone has to jump in on the network where they are needed, “you are constantly energized”, and there are no breaks. He himself sees this as the reason for his various physical problems: “In four years in Rottenburg I haven’t had as many injuries as here in the last six months.” He can only hope that we will draw conclusions from this for the future, even if his own contract, like that of all players, expires in summer.
Grozer is also not satisfied with the atmosphere in the team. The formation and the substitutes of coach Juan Manuel Serramalera attracted attention several times due to the lack of temperament in their games. “Like at a funeral” it sometimes goes to. The critic has identified “very different and many calm characters”. You don’t have to be embarrassed to be happy and cheer. “My father”, himself with Moerser SC German champions and cup winners, “always says: ‘A good atmosphere on the field brings two extra points per set.’” In the narrow league, these could ultimately make the difference.
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