On Saturday at 8:30 p.m., a remarkable semi-final will be played in the Belgian Cup: the A team faces the B team of Darto Bevo Roeselare. As far as we know, this has never happened before in Belgian volleyball.

While reviewing both rosters, another curiosity emerged: libero Emma Vanderschommen will be playing against her father, Kevin, who is the assistant coach of Bevo B. Naturally, some friendly teasing has already taken place at home, but everything remains good-natured in the family of the former top goalkeeper of Cercle Brugge, AA Gent and Kortrijk.

“We remain realistic enough to say that in a single match we might surprise our A team, but nobody would dare call us favourites,” smiles Kevin, who is a teacher. “Some people say that in our smaller hall we might have a chance. But – pure coincidence – the A team will train there on Friday because Schiervelde wasn’t available.”

Could Bevo A be going through a dip after their unexpected loss to Noorderkempen and their European defeat to Dukla Liberec?
Kevin: “Against Noorderkempen, especially the attacking compartment was in a complete off-day, and in the Czech Republic they let three match balls slip away. Our only possible chance would be to deliver a top performance — like we did against Michelbeke — while the A team underperforms in attack.”

Emma, what do you say to your father’s comment?
Emma: “There was more possible against Liberec, but the 3–2 result keeps the door open for the home leg. And against Noorderkempen, the whole team had an off-day. But I can assure you: there will be no underestimation when playing our B team. We’ll perform at our level in this match, which is great promotion for volleyball and for our club. Some of the B-team girls train with us from time to time, and players like Sien Devos and Delphine De Winne have Liga experience from their time in Ostend. And about the hall: they can put more serving pressure in the smaller Darta Arena, but the return match is played in our big REO Arena, where we can go full throttle,” smiles Emma from her student room in Ghent, where she is in her second year of law school. “A demanding combination. My father attends almost all my matches and always gives constructive feedback afterwards. I don’t mind at all.”

Kevin: “She truly is self-critical, and I must admit she has made great progress over the last two years.”

A-team manager Lieven Louagie is also listening with interest.
If your B team can beat Michelbeke, does that mean the gap between the top of First National and the Liga is very small?
Louagie: “You can’t take that result as a standard. But beating a team like Michelbeke, who have two foreign players, is definitely impressive. And with the expansion of the Liga, the transition has become easier: the gap between top First National teams and the Liga’s lower-ranked teams has indeed narrowed.”

Some media criticised the fact that a club can register two teams, something almost unheard of in other sports.
“I don’t think we need to compare ourselves to other disciplines. Why shouldn’t we be allowed to compete fairly with Liga teams? We compose a B team that’s a mix of experienced players and young talents who sometimes train with the A team. Cup matches are then the ideal opportunity to measure ourselves against higher-ranked teams. They also have the right to register multiple teams.”

Text: MC
Photo: Lotto Volley Liga