Federations
Askö LINZ-STEG celebrate with fourth Austrian Cup title
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Article Sat, Feb 23 2019
Graz, Austria, February 23, 2019. Askö LINZ-STEG are the Austrian Volley Cup Champions for the fourth time after achieving the same feat in 2008, 2009 and 2011! The players coached by Roland Schwab claimed on Saturday the gold medal match of the Final Four tournament presented by Energie Steiermark and held at the state-of-the-art Raiffeisen Sportpark Graz against the young team of the ATSC Wildcats KLAGENFURT.
As they cruised to a comprehensive 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-14) victory, LINZ-STEG fully lived up to their favourite role. On the way to the final, LINZ-STEG had previously edged all-time record winners SG VB NÖ Sokol / Post in five sets and dethroned defending champions and hosts UVC Holding GRAZ in another tiebreak in Friday’s semi-finals.
In the final, things were much smoother for LINZ-STEG, a team with only one defeat to their name this season across all domestic competitions. The Wildcats fought bravely, but could only keep up at times. Nikolina Maros and Co. played a great match from start to end. The opposite hitter cashed the first match ball after 68 minutes only. Maros was also the best scorer in the match with 22 points. Her teammate Saskia Trathnigg contributed 16 points to her team’s success. Noemi Oiwoh (12) and Daniela Katz (7) scored the most points for KLAGENFURT.
Final Four MVP and top scorer Nikolina Maros: “That feels incredible! We were able to confirm the performance of the semi-finals and prove that we can get a title even without foreign players on our roster. Our serving game was very strong today, and we defended well too!”
Roland Schwab, coach of Askö LINZ-STEG: “The joy for this title is of course great. The semi-final success over GRAZ gave us a lot of self-confidence. We took the momentum into the final and pulled the match through in three sets. Overall, we played eight sets at a high level in this tournament.”
Wildcats coach Helmut Voggenberger: “LINZ-STEG was simply experienced and tough; they have four national team players in the squad, which have recently developed very well. You have to congratulate the opponent. We just conceded too many points in a row. However, one should not forget that we started with many young players and for them, it was certainly an important experience to have played in such a setting for the first time.”
KLAGENFURT top scorer Noemi Oiwoh: “We gave everything, fought hard, but unfortunately we also had some lows. However, this team has a lot of potential. Our goal is to win all remaining matches in the Austrian national league.”
As they cruised to a comprehensive 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-14) victory, LINZ-STEG fully lived up to their favourite role. On the way to the final, LINZ-STEG had previously edged all-time record winners SG VB NÖ Sokol / Post in five sets and dethroned defending champions and hosts UVC Holding GRAZ in another tiebreak in Friday’s semi-finals.
In the final, things were much smoother for LINZ-STEG, a team with only one defeat to their name this season across all domestic competitions. The Wildcats fought bravely, but could only keep up at times. Nikolina Maros and Co. played a great match from start to end. The opposite hitter cashed the first match ball after 68 minutes only. Maros was also the best scorer in the match with 22 points. Her teammate Saskia Trathnigg contributed 16 points to her team’s success. Noemi Oiwoh (12) and Daniela Katz (7) scored the most points for KLAGENFURT.
Final Four MVP and top scorer Nikolina Maros: “That feels incredible! We were able to confirm the performance of the semi-finals and prove that we can get a title even without foreign players on our roster. Our serving game was very strong today, and we defended well too!”
Roland Schwab, coach of Askö LINZ-STEG: “The joy for this title is of course great. The semi-final success over GRAZ gave us a lot of self-confidence. We took the momentum into the final and pulled the match through in three sets. Overall, we played eight sets at a high level in this tournament.”
Wildcats coach Helmut Voggenberger: “LINZ-STEG was simply experienced and tough; they have four national team players in the squad, which have recently developed very well. You have to congratulate the opponent. We just conceded too many points in a row. However, one should not forget that we started with many young players and for them, it was certainly an important experience to have played in such a setting for the first time.”
KLAGENFURT top scorer Noemi Oiwoh: “We gave everything, fought hard, but unfortunately we also had some lows. However, this team has a lot of potential. Our goal is to win all remaining matches in the Austrian national league.”