Champions League

The Tyrolean volleyball giants have big plans

Kyle Hobus and Hypo Tirol want to reach the Champions League.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

The Hypo Tirol volleyball team will host Doetinchem on Thursday (18) and are about to take a big step into the Champions League. With six two-meter players at the net, the Innsbruck team wants to create a wall and block the Dutch team out of the Olympic Hall.

The Hypo-Riesen have become even bigger this season. Six members of the Innsbruck squad now measure two meters or more, but the Brazilian middle blocker and Hypo veteran Pedro Frances is still the tallest player at 2.08 meters. What is particularly noticeable this season, however, is that the two support players are also real giants. Estonian Robert Viiber is 2.02 m tall, while his replacement Adam Provaznik (Tch) measures 1.96 m. "Robert has integrated very well and, in addition to serving, his service and blocking are also great strengths," explained Niklas Kronthaler. At 1.94 m, the 30-year-old is one of the "smallest" players in the squad. "We have great potential, especially on the block," nodded the captain.

Against the Dutch champions
In the third qualifying round, the Tyroleans will face the Dutch champions from Doetinchem on Thursday (18, Olympiahalle). However, the Oranjes only have four two-meter players. "But they are definitely the strongest opponent we've faced so far this season," says Kronthaler: "They have a good diagonal attacker and are a consistent team. We definitely have to improve again.

Big goal
Hypo has a big goal in mind: After nine years, Kronthaler's team wants to return to the group stage of the Champions League. Only Niklas and Pedro were there back then. With the support of the home crowd, the Tyroleans want to lay the foundation for this.