T&T senior women’s volleyballer, Channon Thompson registered a game-high 17 points, but it was not enough as her Red Ravens Vilsbiburg saw their four-match winning streak in the Germany Women’s Bundesliga Volleyball Championship come to an end in a straight sets loss to defending champions Allianz MTV Stuttgart on Saturday.
Playing at the Austragungsort, Scharrena, Stuttgart, Outside Hitter Thompson scored 17 points for the understrength Vilsbiburg while Katrina Kokkonen added 12, and ‘birthday girl’ Nicole Avery Heppell, nine in the 17-25, 18-25, 28-30 loss to Stuttgart who go 11 points each from Eline Timmerman, and Alexis Hart.
Stuttgart leading scorers were well supported by Marie Scholzel who added nine, Simone Lee with eight, Krystal Rivers with seven, and the pair of Maria Segura, and Laura Kunzler, six points apiece as they improve to 18-1 and 53 points at the top of the 11-club standings while Schweriner (16-3) is six points behind with 47 followed by SC Potsdam (15-4) with 44, Dresden SC (10-9) with 29 points, and fifth-placed Wiesbaden which has an 8-11 and 27 points to be certain of a top eight playoff spot.
However, with the loss, Thompson and her Vilsbiburg teammates slipped two places on the table to seventh with a 9-10 record and 25 points one adrift of USC Munster which has the same 9-10 record while VFB Suhl (8-11), and Ladies in Black Aachen (8-11), both with 23 points as all four clubs will go into the final regular-season match-day still in the hunt for the remaining three playoff spots.
For Vilsbiburg it will be a straightforward case of a win and you are in as they will host Suhl at home after the latter won its home match against Aachen 3-0 to set up the mouthwatering contest at the Ballsporthalle against the Thuringians on April 1, for the playoff participation.
In the two other key matches, Wiesbaden faces Aachen, and USC Munster comes up against Potsdam. The two clubs at the bottom of the table are Schwarz-Weib Erfurt (3-17) with 15 points and cellar-placed VC Neuwied (1-18) with three points.