Olympic Year “2012″ is finally upon us
With it only being a matter of days since the New Year fireworks went off, the GBW have certainly sparked 2012 off with a bang as they were back in action this weekend after a much deserved christmas break. Let’s see how they all got on in their respective leagues…
Belgium: Amigos lost 3-1 v Asterix Kieldrecht and won 3-1 v Fixit Kalmthout
Palmers Zoersel Amigos
Palmer’s Gea happel amigos faced the top of the league Asterix Kieldrecht on Saturday. Asterix Kieldrecht with 100% record this season with 11 wins out of 11 and only dropping 4 set so far this season where definately a team we would have to raise our level to try and compete with. The first set started well for Amigos with tough serving and our team playing with full force meant we stayed with the champions point for point. Amigos pushed on and really stepped up, Kieldrecht seemed shocked and were forced into making changes. This didnt stop Amigos and with a great team performance they took the first set 23-25. Kieldrecht started the second set with much more conviction and really lifted their level showing why they are the champions. Amigos started to show some cracks and Kieldrecht pushed on strongly to take the next two sets. In set four there were signs of great play from both teams and Amigos stuck with the opposition. Kieldrecht were 19-18 up, dug in deep and found that higher level to finish the game 21-25. Even though Amigos lost 3-1 we played as a team and gave the reigning league winners a good match, and we came out with a great team performance.
On Sunday Amigos had to play the quater finals of the Antwerp cup. We faced Fixit Kalmthout (who are in the first division). With the other side playing in a lower league this meant they had a 4 point advantage in every set. Amigos started strong and quickly got back the point difference and could relax and play their game taking the first set. Set two started well for Amigos and looked comfortable again but an unfourtunate injury took out one of our first six outside hitters. Amigo’s kept on playing and took the second set.
Palmer reports: “Set three also saw our first six setter having to stop after twisting her knee. This is devastating news for our team and Fixit saw the opportunity and with their crowd helping them to lift their game they managed to take the third set. In the fourth set we stepped it up a level and really meant business finishing out the final set with some good volleyball and all round team performance, taking the game 3-1. We are now in the semi final of the Antwerp cup. Fingers crossed that our two injured players can have a quick recovery.”
Finland: Pieksamaki won 3-0 v Viljandi Metall and 3-1 v Viimsi Spa
Double win for GB's Stacey O'Connor
O’Connor reports: ”Wednesday we played Pislapoki at home in a back and forth match. We lost in 5 but showed some great volleyball. Our passing was the best it’s been, and serving was tough. The sets lost came down to our errors. With a loss on our backs, we had to quickly turn it around to play against Viljandi Metall in Estonia on Friday night. We came out strong, leading in all areas of the game. It was one of our better performances this season, controlling our errors and putting the pressure on them, taking a well deserved 3-0 win. On Saturday vs Viimsi Spa, we once again performed with less errors and brought a more consistent play, winning again 3-1. If we can keep down our errors, we will give ourselves a chance to win more matches. We had a great support from our fans at home and in Estonia. It was great to win in front of them, after all their support throughout our rough season of 5 set losses.“
France: In Pro A Grace Carter’s TFOC lost 3-2 to Nantes
Grace Carter
This week we played 6th place Nantes, after the perfect start TFOC took the first 2 sets (25-15, 25-20), with their best volleyball of the season so far. But after the break Nantes came back fighting, with some tough serving and defence, taking the set 23-25. The fourth was close with TFOC on top most of the way, but could not convert it to a win just losing 24-26. The momentum was with Nantes all the way in the fifth, TFOC fought hard, but errors crept in and Nantes eventually took the set and match 15-12.
Grace’s Comments: “Another disapointing loss, but we played some great volleyball. We now need cut down on mistakes and know how to finish a set when we are in a good position“
Germany: Aachen win 3-0 v Hamburg and lose 3-0 to Vilsbiburg
On Monday, Wicks and Michel made their way to Hamburg for their first game of 2012. It was to be a Battle of the Brits with Bragg playing for Hamburg. Aachen knew it would be a tough game with Hamburg sitting in 5th to Aachen’s 9th but Aachen were desperate for points after a dissappointing loss at home to league newcomers Leverkusen.
Aachen started strong and seemed to take Hamburg by surprise. Some tough serving caused Hamburg’s serve receive unit problems and Aachen took the first set 25-18. Aachen continued to perform well with some aggressive plays from their outside hitters. Hamburg upped their game but it wasnt enough as Aachen went on to win the next 2 sets 26-24 and 25-22.
Lucy comments…….”It was great to get a win away from home, especially against one of the top teams. After a few poor performances in the first half of the season we have made it tough for ourselves to get into the playoffs so this win will definitely help us. We have now started to play as a team and fight for every point. We now need to continue to do this throughout the second half of the season“.
On Saturday, The Ladies in Black took on the Bundesliga table leaders Rote Raben Vilsbiburg for the first match of the second half of season, in the first home game of 2012. The opponent, 2010 German Champions consisting of 3 German national players and 1 Cuban Olympic bronze medalist, will also soon be playing in the Liga Pokal Cup final.
MVP for Michael
However, despite the challenge ahead, Aachen was still buzzing from the confidence of the previous match, and showed no fear as the underdogs. The atmosphere and crowd were in full Aachen style – lots of singing, chanting and drums – setting the scene for a good match. The ladies countered the strength of the opponent with a string of block and serve points, and kept a fighting spirit throughout the match. GB middle blocker Ci Michel earned her second MVP of the season. But the score was not reflective of the effort, and the girls lost in an unusual three sets.
“I was proud of our team for showing up to play today, but it’s definitely not everything we can do” Ci comments. “On another day it might have gone the other way, but there are a lot of positives to take away from this game to bring into the next.”
Holland: TFM/DOK win 3-1 v VC Sneek
Morgan and Taylor’s TFM/DOK played against VC Sneek on Saturday and were looking to put in a performance against this team since the past two times the teams have met VC Sneek dominated the game.
A very surprising solid start to TFM/DOK had VC Sneek getting visibly frustrated at each other. The more TFM/DOK celebrated, the more VC Sneek got down. Brave and accurate serving meant that the TFM.DOK block/defence system worked, something they have been working really hard on. This continued throughout set 1 until VC Sneek took risk with their serve and had a long run of points. TFM/DOK dug deep, sided out after a time out, and Morgan went back to serve at 19-22 down for the set, and the set was won 25-22.
Set 2 was much more of a fight. VC Sneek clearly did not want to lose this match to TFM/DOK. They stepped up their serving and won a few runs of points against TFM/DOK. However, TFM/DOK took up the challenge and served back just as tough as them and every time VC Sneek crept in front TFM/DOK got back close to them. At the end of set 2 VC Sneek were up 24-22. Brave serving from one of the Dutch girls helped TFM/DOK win the set 26-24.
Set 3 is a set that is best forgotten about. Every single player missed their serve on the first rotation and this had a massive effect on confidence for the entire set. TFM/DOK lost 14-25. As TFM/DOK walked on to court in set 4 it was clear they had shook off set 3. They stood tall, made lots of noise, communication was high, and they looked like they were having fun, all before the first ball of the set was served!! There was no stopping TFM/DOK in this set. Confidence was at an all time high. Serving, blocking and defence were great and VC Sneek did not have any solutions. TFM/DOK players were disciplined and patient as well as having fun on court. TFM/DOK went on to win the set 25-16. 3-1 win for TFM/DOK!!
Morgan makes the headlines in Holland
The most impressive things TFM/DOK showed was patience and discipline. All players were ACCOUNTABLE and did their jobs well. There were a few long rallies in the game and TFM/DOK were patient yet aggressive and knew to wait to find the scoring opportunity. Some of the girls who can be a bit quiet had great performances and scored some massive points. All players were brave, aggressive and smart. TFM/DOK know that each game is crucial for them and every single point in the league table is very much needed for them to make the play offs. Morgan says “we have never beaten VC Sneek before in club history. To take three points from this team in particular is such a great feeling and a huge confidence boost for us. Some of the girls had their best game of the season so far. I’m impressed with the way we cut down on silly mistakes we would normally make. Overall I am very pleased with my performance, and more importantly, the team performance.”
Poland: Laybourne’s Silesia Volley lost 3-1 to Jedynka Aleksandrow Lodzki
Silesia Volley travelled away to Jedynka Aleksandrów Lodzki on Saturday night. On paper it was always going to be a tight match as the two teams had exactly the same number of points going into the match and the previous encounter had ended in a tight five set battle.
The first set started with the opposition making multiple errors on the service line which meant that they never really got into any kind of rhythm. Silesia on the other hand started well and dominated in all areas of the game. Strong blocking and serving ensured that Silesia would go onto win the set 25 – 22.
Rachel Laybourne
Jedynka Aleksandrów Lodzki changed their setter for the start of the second set and a new team faced Silesia Volley. The number of errors made by the opposition dropped significantly and Silesia needed to earn their points. Unfortunately Silesia were slow to respond to the challenge and lost the second set 13 – 25.
Everything was to play in the third set. The two teams traded point for point well into the twenties but it was Jedynka Aleksandrów Lodzki who clinched the set 25- 23. If there was to be any hope that Silesia could walk away with vital points from this match, the fourth set was a must win. Jedynka Aleksandrów Lodzki ensured that this was not the case as they maintained their momentum with their strong and varied attacking. Although Silesia challenged in parts of the set the fourth set was lost 20 – 25.
Laybourne comments “It’s disappointing to lose our first game after the Christmas break, especially when we came here to prove a point after loosing to them at home in the first half of the season. Our next game is on Thursday evening so this will be a really short week. It is really important that we learn the lessons from this game and turn our attention quickly to the local derby match against SMS PZPS I Sosnowiec.”
Switzerland: Biel lost 3-0 v Dudingen
Jen Thom’s new team, Biel, played Dudingen on Saturday. Jenn comments……“This was a game that was important to us as it was a team we could have potentially beaten. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case. One of our outside hitters broke her finger during the week in a scrimmage game so she wasn’t able to play. I just found out the day before that my transfer hadn’t gone through yet which meant i also couldn’t play. So the team knew that this game was going to be a challenge for us and that people needed to step up.
Jen Thom
It wasn’t a good start from Biel and we stuggled in serve receive, We never managed to get into the set and were unable to find any control. We lost the first set 25:9. The second set was better as the serve receive got better and we were able to run the middle and score. Our block began to function on the outside and with some smart hitting on the outside we began to get into the set. We struggled to match Dudingen in power and they won the second set 25:20. The third set was much the same, we were passing better and blocking better but we struggled in defence and we couldn’t quite match them on the outside. We lost the thrid set 25:18.
This was a disappointing game for us but we did improve throughout the match. So hopefully we will build on this for next week.
Volley Koniz lost 3-2 to Pfeffingen in the League and the Cup
For Maria Bertelli’s Volley Koniz it was a double header this weekend, away from home twice against Sm’Aesch Pfeffingen, Saturday in the league and Sunday in the cup. Bertelli gives us the low down…
“We expected Pfeffingen to come out and play strong, they are good at home but I felt we were ready to deliver. So, 10 sets later and we lost both matches 3-2. It was a really disappointing weekend for our team going out of the Swiss Cup (with the final in our home city this year) and the only slight consolation is 1 league point for the 3-2 defeat on Saturday.
Maria Bertelli
There’s no time to dwell though, we need to recover physically after an extremely hard 7 days and mentally we have to respond, we play in the CEV Challenge Cup on Wednesday away from home against Linz from Austria.”
Goulet and Osborne’s VC Kanti lost 3-1 to Volero
VC Kanti Schaffhausen were at home this Sunday in the Swiss Cup 1/4 finals to Champions League team Volero. Having played them twice in the league, it was currently one a piece, with the first match having been 3-0 to Kanti and the second 3-1 to Volero. Kanti were hopeful that they would have the same energetic performance that they’d had previously and with all expectations on the away team, there was everything to play for.
However, following a tough start, the pressure came from Volero consistently, making it a diffuclt match for Kanti in serve recieve and getting past their block. While the third set offered some hope and the Kanti girls kicked back in, it was ultimately a 3-1 loss that puts the girls out of the Swiss Cup, and Volero through to the semi finals. Osborne commented, “It was a disappointing loss, especially having played so well against them in previous matches. They served tactically and aggressively which took us a while to get a handle on. There were some patches of great volleyball from us and the third set was much better, but we were stuck in rotations too frequently and today we just didnt match them. Now time to refocus back onto the league and our major remaining goal as we have a crucial match next weekend against Dudingen.”
Spain
In Spain, Beattie and Sandell are almost at the half-way stage of the season. Beattie and CV Las Palmas have played more matches than any other team and are enjoying sitting on top of the Spanish Superliga for now. They still have a few weeks to go before their 2012 competitive campaign gets underway, with their next game on the 28th January.
Meanwhile in Menorca, Sandell plays her first game of 2012 on the 14th January to see if they can close the gap on current league leaders CV Las Palmas. Not a bad job by the GB girls in Spain sitting first and second. All to play for as 2012 kicks off!