DDespite a strong performance, the German volleyball players conceded their first defeat at the World Championships in the Netherlands and Poland. The team of national coach Vital Heynen had to admit defeat to the defending champions from Serbia with 0:3 (23:25, 22:25, 23:25) in Lodz on Thursday.
The top scorer of the German team was Hanna Orthmann with 14 points. The DVV selection won the first two games against Bulgaria (3:1) and Kazakhstan (3:0).
In the penultimate group game on Friday (7:00 p.m./Sportdeutschland.tv), the selection of the German Volleyball Association meets Olympic champions USA, the duel against Canada on Saturday (4:00 p.m.) marks the end of the preliminary round.
The top four teams in the group of six advance to the second round of the tournament. The German team, which had two victories against Bulgaria (3:1) and Kazakhstan (3:0) at the start of the World Cup, has not yet been able to win a medal at a World Cup.
Famoser Start
In the Atlas Arena in Lodz, the DVV butterflies got off to a great start and even took the lead against the favored Serbs. At the end of the first set, however, the opponent trained by the Italian Daniele Santarelli showed his greater quality in the key positions. A similar picture emerged in the second set: Germany held their own for a long time, but with three points in a row Serbia finally took a 2-0 lead in the set.
This was a blow to the neck for the German team, who quickly fell 3-0 down in the third set. Coach Heynen took a break and demanded: “Everyone has to do their thing.” Diagonal attacker Kimberly Drewniok raised hopes with the point to make it 21:21, but again the Olympic bronze medalists from Serbia were stronger with the outstanding Tijana Bošković in crunch time.
