VfB Friedrichshafen beat Freiburg 3-1 in the VBL Super Cup on Thursday evening. The visitors took the title with a performance that showed no sympathy for the hosts' recent struggles. By then, Freiburg had already seen their hopes slip away after the first set.
Victory means Friedrichshafen add silverware to their collection, and it does something to the mood around the league. Freiburg will have to look at what went wrong when they were expected to fight back. To be fair, they had lost to the same side 3-0 back in February and this time the pattern held.
The recent record tells its own story. Freiburg lost 3-0 to SVG Lüneburg in March and have dropped points in three of their last five matches. Friedrichshafen, meanwhile, showed character setting aside their 1-3 defeat to BR Volleys on April 11th with a 3-2 win in their next meeting. They lost their man in the final moments against Ludwigshburg on April 4th but picked up the pieces.
And here's the thing about cup football — or cup volleyball in this case — the table goes out of the window. These games are decided in moments, not over a season. Friedrichshafen held their nerve when it mattered, while Freiburg paid for a sloppy opening.
