INNSBRUCK secure historic Austrian women’s national league title

In a season that will go down in history, TI-Volley INNSBRUCK have crowned themselves Austrian women’s national champions for the very first time! They finished the championship series with titleholders and domestic rivals Oberbank Steelvolleys LINZ-STEG with a 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20) victory to make it three wins to one in their favour. This triumph caps off a truly perfect season for the team coached by Rogelio ‘Roe’ Hernandez since they had already secured the Supercup in September and the Austrian Volley Cup two months ago only. Last season the Steelvolleys had completed a clean sweep of all domestic titles available in Austria.

The teams fought each other in an intense duel from the start in front of a great backdrop with many spectacular rallies, but some rather avoidable mistakes as well. The reigning champions initially acted more consistently, with a very solid reception and they broke away moving the score from 10-10 to 15-11. This laid the foundation for their opening set win. TI-Volley dominated in the second set, where they at times had a comfortable advantage of as many as seven points. After 53 minutes the tie was achieved. The Innsbruck women also started better in the third set, leading 7-3 and 12-8. This time, however, LINZ-STEG struck back. After a 5-0 run, the score suddenly stood at 18-15 for the hosts. Ultimately, however, the players from Tirol had better nerves and made it 2-1. The fourth set also went back and forth. The visiting team got off to a lightning start (5-1), before the Steelvolleys turned the tables (11-9). The lead changed several times before Marie Nevot secured four match points for INNSBRUCK. Captain Martyna Walter used the first one to win the first ever championship title for TI-Volley!

Christina Plattner, player of TI-Volley: “Today a dream came true. There was much pressure. Unbelievable, so great that we managed to do that! Both teams played well, even though with ups and downs. I would not have believed that at the beginning of the season, but we had a great one.” 

TI-Volley libero Eva Stabentheiner: “A big stone has fallen from my heart. In the last set I did not touch many balls, so it was quite a struggle. I am so proud of the team. I would not trade being in the final for anything else in the world, but it was not just fun, it was very tiring as well.”