Bundesliga: Berlin in on another title race

The 2014-2015 club season started this past weekend pretty much everywhere in Europe. After the unexpected bronze medal finish at the 2014 World Championship in September, Germany is already set for new volleyball emotions in hopes that the vibes generated in the sports halls throughout Poland could be at least partially transferred domestically.

The campaign was not launched with as much optimism as I would have fancied. One of the symbolic Bundesliga teams in recent times, namely Unterhaching, had to cease existence due to the club’s inability to find a successor to the retreated strategic main partner Generali. The head coach Mihai Paduretu did not want to register a young squad without immediate ambitions, so, as a result, Unterhaching followed the steps of two even more legendary clubs like Bre Banca Cuneo and Sisley Treviso from Italy who also vanished from the volleyball map.

It will be all left down to the two major title contenders Berlin Recycling Volleys and VfB Friedrichshafen to fight each other for the 2014-2015 crown. TV Ingersoll Buhl, a team I deeply respect for the massive amounts of work done to maintain a persistent level slightly below the main championship favourites, should have all the necessary weapons to challenge the bronze medals. SWD Powervolleys Dueren is another team with medal aspirations, but the straight-set home defeat to Buhl in the first round already makes it less likely that they would stand in front of their opponents at the end of the season.

The defending champions

The winner of the last three Bundesliga editions, Berlin Recycling Volleys, added even more quality to their squad for the forthcoming campaign. Dominant in Germany, the guys of head coach Mark Lebedew are atop of each bookmaker’s odds list for the 2014-2015 championship. They kept their main roster which should be a guarantee for an unproblematic sequence of games before the eventual league playoffs. The club does not hide their ambitions to host the CEV DenizBank Champions League Final Four in March. The new signings arrived to match the club’s desire to perform well in Europe and maybe even to finally overcome the Russian obstacles (mostly Zenit Kazan) that kept impeding the Germans.

The 2013 European Championship’s Best Blocker Srecko Lisinac from Serbia returned back to Skra Belchatow after his loan expired, but four new players were recruited to provide a significant squad depth. The versatile Christian Duennes (used as an opposite and a middle blocker) moved to the capital from arch rivals VfB Friedrichshafen and he was followed by the athletic Italian outside hitter Francesco De Marchi (Rennes Volley 35, France), the USA national team libero Erik Shoji (Hypo Tirol Innsbruck, Austria), who is also the setter Kawika‘s brother and the Dutch middle blocker Johannes “Rob” Bontje from Jastrzebski Wegiel (Poland). The core of the team remains which means that the quality of the new names must be enough to retain the title and prey for something more this year in the Champions League.

Setters: Kawika Shoji (USA), Sebastian Kuehner
Opposites: Paul Carroll (Australia), Aleksandar Spirovski (Serbia), Christian Duennes
Outside attackers: Robert Kromm, Egor Bogachev, Francesco De Marchi (Italy), Scott Touzinsky (USA)
Middle blockers: Felix Fischer, Tomas Kmet (Slovakia), Johannes Bontje (Netherlands)
Liberos: Martin Krystof (Czech Republic), Erik Shoji (USA)

Head coach: Mark Lebedew (Australia)

2014-2015 CEV DenizBank Champions League opponents: (Pool C) Asseco Resovia Rzeszow (Poland), Budvanska Rivijera Budva (Montenegro), ACH Volley Ljubljana (Slovenia).

The vice-champions

After the failed attempt to conquer Berlin’s kingdom last season, the Romanian-born Stelian Moculescu revamped his squad almost completely. The French legionnaires Baptiste Geiler and the world’s best libero Jenia Grebennikov, the World Championship’s bronze medalist Max Gunthor, the back-up setter Jan Zimmermann and the universal Thilo Spaeth are the only ones who will remain another year at the Bodensee. Two players return to the 2007 Champions League winners. These are the experienced setter Simon Tischer (ASUL Lyon Volley, France) and the Romanian opposite Adrian Gontariu (AZS Politechnika Warszawska, Poland). The Czech opposite Michal Finger will be used as an alternative for Gontariu, whereas the Argentinian Maximilliano Gauna (Sarmiento Santana Textiles, Argentina) and the American Nicholas Vogel (TV Ingersoll Buhl) will support Germany’s allegedly best middle blocker Max Gunthor. This year’s squad, in my humble opinion, does not impress as much as last year’s one. Besides, the playmaker Tischer suffered a knee injury in France and is yet to recover fully. Michal Finger is less known in Europe, while Gontariu will have to deal with the pressure of replacing the best opposite in the Bundesliga in the last two years, Ventsislav Simeonov, who signed with another Champions League participant Tomis Constanta (Romania).

Setters: Simon Tischer, Jan Zimmermann
Opposites: Michal Finger (Czech Republic), Adrian Radu Gontariu (Romania)
Outside attackers: Baptiste Geiler (France), Roland Gergye (Hungary), Moritz Reichert, Maarten van Garderen (Netherlands), Thilo Spaeth
Middle blockers: Maximilliano Gauna (Argentina), Max Gunthor, Nicholas Vogel (USA)
Libero: Jenia Grebennikov (France)

Head coach: Stelian Moculescu

2014-2015 CEV DenizBank Champions League opponents: (Pool D) Zenit Kazan (Russia), Olympiacos Piraeus (Greece), Posojilnica Aich/Dob (Austria).

The bronze medal fight

Two teams will mainly compete for the third place at the end of the season. These two teams are highly likely to appear in the playoff semifinals in April as well. Let’s take a look first at the one with more advantages at the time being, namely TV Ingersoll Buhl.

Ruben Wolochin‘s side has also gone through a major reshaping this summer. Many players left and some interesting new signings have already made their Bundesliga debuts over the weekend. Those include the 2014 World League participants Lubos Kostolani (Fatra Zlin, Czech Rep.) and Nehemiah Mote, the latter attracted a lot of attention by reaching the Final Six in Florence with the Australian national team. Slovakia’s new opposite Kostolani also enjoyed some emphatic World League matches, although Slovakia competed in the lowest third division of the tournament. Kostolani’s 17 points with a 76-attack percentage for the 3-0 win at Dueren will send a warning to future blockers that Wolochin has found a worthy replacement for the German national team player Marvin Prolingheuer who chose namely the colors of Dueren for the new season. The Danish setter Axel Jacobsen (now in Drean Bolivar, Argentina) was replaced by the young Spaniard Angel Trinidad (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia, Italy) and so the selection, despite its quite new life and with a few practice minutes together, of the Argentinian coach is already harvesting results.

Setters: Kristen Clero, Angel Trinidad (Spain), Oskar Wetter
Opposites: Paul Buchegger (Austria), Lubos Kostolani (Slovakia)
Outside attackers: Richard Mauler (Czech Republic), Jens Sandmeier, David Sossenheimer, Mark Plotyczer (Great Britain)
Middle blockers: Magloire Mayaula Nzeza (DR Congo), Nehemiah Mote (Australia), Robert Schramm
Libero: David Molnar (Hungary)

Head coach: Ruben Wolochin (Argentina)

2014-2015 CEV Cup opponents: (16th-finals) Bigbank Tartu (Estonia).

With Canada’s Blair Bann (Nantes Reze Metropole Volley, France), as well as Jan-Philipp Marks from Generali Unterhaching and Marvin Prolingheuer from medal rivals Ingersoll Buhl, Michael Muecke‘s side is probably the most competitive it has been since they last took part in the Champions League. Dueren should no longer struggle in the middle of the table. The only problem I think they might encounter will be height in block as they have only two players (they actually play on the same position), the opposites Prolingheuer and and last season’s crowd favourite Gevert, standing at a respectable height at 208 and 204 cm respectively.

Setters: Tomas Kocian, Ciaran McGovern (Canada)
Opposites: Marvin Prolingheuer, Sebastian Gevert (Chile)
Outside attackers: Dennis Barthel, Steven Hunt (Canada), Jan-Philipp Marks, Matthias Pompe
Middle blockers: Georg Klein, Oskar Klingner, Jaromir Zachrich
Libero: Blair Bann (Canada)

Head coach: Michael Muecke

The southern region of Bayern might’ve lost its most prominent volleyball gem, but will be represented by two other teams. These are the league’s newcomers VSG Coburg/Grub and TSV Herrsching, “Geilster Club der Welt” (“the coolest club in the world”, as their slogan suggests).

Vital Heynen‘s assistant coach in the national team, Stefan Huebner, a former national team member himself, will make his first steps as a head coach with another league newcomer, SVG Lueneburg.

Pictures: volleyball-bundesliga, Internet

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