Volleyball Lotto Volley League Haasrode Leuven – Roeselare
Hendrik Tuerlinckx: “The intensity in training is again top notch, so I think we are ready to give Roeselare a warm welcome.” — © Well
Haasrode Leuven can start 2023 on Saturday with a blast, because the arrival of the unapproachable Roeselare will immediately cause high tension. Although winning points against the proud leader is almost unthinkable, the people of Leuven seem to believe in a stunt.
Kenny Hennes
For the people of Leuven, the short break between Christmas and New Year came in handy to reflect on the first round in the competition. That is sometimes a bit easier if you don’t have to be busy with volleyball for a while and the focus is on the family.
“Mentally, I feel a lot better than the two weeks before Christmas,” says a relaxed Hendrik Tuerlinckx. “It is always nice to be together with the family and enjoy the Christmas atmosphere, although I have kept it quiet and have also kept busy in the gym. At the same time, it was extremely important that we could enter the end of the year with three points after the 3-1 win against Warworm. Fortunately, we showed what we have in our march during the last three sets. That was necessary after the terrible match against Menen. You can see that knocking on the table helps.” (laughs)
The Leuven captain knows better than anyone how to keep his troops sharp. “I just honestly have what it is. Also the fact that we could use some extra match rhythm. That is why we played a practice match against Guibertin this week. The intensity in training is also top again, so I think we are ready to give Roeselare a warm welcome”, added Tuerlinckx.
Friends for life
And playing against Roeselare, that will always be special for ‘straffe Hendrik’. After thirteen seasons in West Flanders, he has friends for life. “I still have daily contact with guests such as Verhanneman, Coolman and D’Hulst. Whether we have already sent each other about the match? No, but that will come. It will mainly come down to not thinking in advance that we cannot do anything against Roeselare, because that will effectively be nothing. We have to go for it.”
The main attacker relies on the fact that VHL has already managed to put Maaseik over the knee this season in its own hall, although Roeselare is still of a different caliber this season. “They have become even more consistent compared to previous seasons. But if we play well, we can handle any team. And we can play without pressure, while they owe it to their position to take the three points. We should not forget that this will be our penultimate home game of the return round in Haasrode. In any case, let us hope that this remains the case, because that would mean that we qualify for the Champion Play-offs and move to the Sportoase”, concludes Tuerlinckx.
