Whoop! Worthing win two more NL games

Worthing travelled to Southampton with a full squad apart from team DJ and mean middle hitter Brinee who thought 'Dirty Dancing' was more important (Get your priorities straight)! Mel and Trees weren't fully match fit, but we reckon Trees is milking the shoulder impingement based on her performance in the second game!  Mel had hurt her back but still travelled down to support the team - thanks Mel!

Nigel started the first set against Solent with Amy and Chantelle through four, Em and Agata in the middle and Robyn and Sintija as setter and opposite.  The first two sets started slowly with Worthing going 6 or 7 points behind before they started to ease their way back into the sets, in set one Sintija made a game changing pick up from over the crowds heads when Solent were already celebrating the point and suddenly Worthing came alive with good first balls in from Amy and Agata, Robyn could start mixing her sets and Sintija and Chantelle started consistently hitting the gaps.  Solent stayed in the sets with some great recycling of the ball and made Worthing work hard, but Worthing closed out both sets 25-19 winners.

In the third set Worthing took their foot off the gas and were made to pay for it, although Em lead a late rally with a couple of immense blocks followed by a good service run it wasn't quite enough and Solent took the set 28-26.

Set four and the whole team came out of the blocks looking to finish the match quickly, which they did 25-11 playing some great three touch volleyball....most of the time.  I'm sure Mark didn't teach Agata the 'ave it' John Smith's style kicking of the ball - but it raised a cheer from the crowd! 

Southampton were up next so the team went off for a quick pizza and a slice of cake and left Trees to warm up on her own! Still the quick sugar fix seemed to work as Worthing won in straight sets getting progressively stronger 25-19, 25-16 and 25-14.  Trees came on through 4 in this game and Agata and Gemma switched each set to partner Em through the middle.  

MVP's were Chantelle and Trees but the whole team played well.

Devils are playing Eastbourne at home next Sunday and then back in action in the National League on 2nd February.  Everybody is welcome to come along and support the first game starts at 12:00 at Lancing Leisure Centre.

Vipers - A Close Shave!

Vipers played East Grinstead without Jimmy, Turbo and Mickey, but still had nine names on the score sheet.
The first set went to plan (14-25) with Andy, Edvin, Damo, Nigel, Andrew and Dom stepping in to the vacant outside hitting position. A few changes for the second set and all of a sudden the errors started to creep in! The odd serve error, shanked first pass and hit in to the net combined with great recoveries and determined play from EG saw them take the second set 25-20.
Strong words from the coach a few less errors and the Vipers took the third set 17-25.
The fourth set started poorly with the Vipers apparently unable to get a single serve in court, spikes still rising as they hit the back wall and more determined play from EG saw the match levelled at 2-2.
More changes from the coach resulted in Nigel moving to the outside, but still more serving errors resulted in the Vipers trailing 8-4 at the turn around. Time for the Vipers to dig very deep to try and avoid a very large dent in their title challenge. A few more serves in, less mistakes, solid hitting under pressure from Nigel and a bit of doubt creeping in to the EG team saw the Vipers bring it back to 13-13 and eventually crawl across the finishing line 13-15.
Phew! Now that was a very close shave. Very muted celebrations from the Vipers at the end of a tough match that saw way to many very basic errors against a well organised and improving East Grinstead team who surely must start to pick up more wins before the season ends.
Andy L picked up MVP with Damo picking up the very keenly contested title of "most serving errors every recorded in a single match".

Match report demons vs dolphins 2; the away game.

January 2014
Dolphins 2?  More like dolphins who!!
A strong side ready for the post Christmas pudding match, sober and full of energy, with Dan the man on side, and the best support from Emma, the team had every hope that they would not only taste sweet cake, but sweet victory too!
Like a perfectly balanced meal; first set; an amuse bouche! The team easily won the opening set.
The second course was harder to swallow, as the dolphins put their best team out and fought hard.
Dessert( always the demons speciality) was a nail biting, edge of the seat mouth watering fiesta!
Of course, the result was in the demons favour.
MVP Katy ( boom boom!)
MVC Katy’s mum ( yum yum!)

Jets Take a Set From Brighton Adur

The Jets travelled away to Brighton Adur with a full squad except for  Iain who was playing for the Sharks.Martin, Matt W, Josh, Matt L Luis and Marlon came back from a poor start in the first set to end on 21 points against a strong Brighton Adur team packed with experience. Dom and Bernard joined the action in the second set for Matt W and Luis and the team failed to get going with poor serve receive and way too many mistakes.
The Jets were more organised in the third set with Matt W back opposite and Dom now through the outside. They managed to keep maintain a narrow lead through out the set to edge the set 25-23 to a clearly frustrated Brighton Adur team. Adur won the four set to wrap up a 3-1 victory, but encouraging signs from the Jets in phases of the match against the more experienced opposition.


MVP went to Dom with some awesome pick ups from Martin worthy of a mention.

Jets start the year with a win.

Jets travelled away to Hastings for the first match of the new year. With the Dolphins national league game cancelled they had a full squad except for Bernard who is yet to return from  the Christmas break and welcomed Marlon for his Worthing debut. Despite some poor serving the Jets secured a relatively close first set before storming to an early lead in a second set which was delayed due to a broken net. A good first pass, excellent court coverage from Dom, great organisation from Matt W and a good around performance saw the Jets close the match out 3-0.

Strong blocking from Matt Lay, good hitting from Iain, Luis, Josh and Marlon, great pick ups from Dom and consistent setting from Martin helped the Jets start the new year well.

Last but not least Dan deserves a mention for his awesome court coverage, consistent passing and all round MVP performance!

Christmas Tournament

Another good turn out for the now annual Christmas Tournament resulted in a great nights volleyball. Six teams battled it out for the title and all managed at least one win with the eventual winners taking the chocolate! Much to the organisers embarrassment the "Lay's" managed to win 4 out of 5 games to win by a narrow margin. It was a great evening followed up by a few beers and something to eat at the North Star.