GERMANY sprung a big surprise on Olympic gold medalist France 25-23, 25-27, 25-20, 25-23 yesterday to keep its final round hopes alive in Week 3 of the Volleyball Nations League men’s tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Five players scored in double digits for the Germans, led by Gyorgi Grozer with 21 points on 18 hits, two aces and a block as they improved to 4-5 and stayed in the race for a top-8 finish and a berth in the final.
Germany, one of the seven teams that have already qualified for the Paris Olympics also next month, forged a tie with eighth-running Cuba in points (12) for the last slot in the final round slated in Poland next week.
Grozer, an ace outside hitter, drew ample support from Moritz Reichert and Lukas Maase with 12 markers each as well as Tobias Krick and Tobias Brand with 10 apiece.
“I believe that we really had an amazing week in Japan (last leg) that led to this performance and our main players are coming back. We’ve been playing without them. I can see that our game is going up,” said coach Michal Winiarski, whose wards went 2-1 in Fukuoka earlier this month to stay afloat after a sluggish start.
