A close game for Devils!

With the teams warming up to the retro cheese that Brinee loves, the already large crowd got a boost by the late arrival of East Grinstead Men's first team following a mad dash across the county from Hastings.  With the Latvian's on the tambourine and Craig and Mark making plenty of noise the atmosphere was fantastic!

Devils had a full squad apart from Paula who was missing the fun to do Uni work and Gemma who was hopefully saving herself for next week, it was good to see her and Howard come along and support though!  Sintija finally seems to be getting the hang of this Captain malarkey and won the toss for the second time this year!

A cagey opening few points saw the scores even until Agata stepped up to serve, giving Worthing a 7 point lead. East Grinstead rallied and fought back with strong serving from Dani which along with rare serve receive errors and a lack of communication saw EG come back into the game before Trees started finding holes in their defence. Slowly Worthing edged ahead but with both teams picking up lots of balls and never giving up there were plenty of long rallies and tense moments before we reached the 25-18 conclusion.

The only change in the second set was bringing Robyn on to set.  This was a much stronger set from Devils who sided out first time on each rotation.  Sabrina coming on front court for Robyn had an immediate impact (once she remembered she wasn't playing through four) putting a big block on their outside hitters and putting them under pressure with her aggressive attacks.  Sintija adjusted well to her new role as back court setter spreading the ball and throwing the odd second ball over. Devils rode their luck on a couple of points with the 33 from East Grinstead hitting a great power hit through the middle, only for Amy to play it off her shoulder with a casual flick for a text book pass into two and on the next point Agata pulled out her trade mark kick after a poor ball in, only to perfectly set up Sintija who didn't let the opportunity pass to hit a screamer! Worthing finished a more comfortable 25-8 winners.

Those people thinking that EG's heads would drop after that set were very much mistaken, following the team talk between sets they came back on court ready to fight it out.  In the tightest set of the day neither team could get a run of serves together to build a lead of more than a point throughout the set.  Paulina and the EG Libero were picking up most of our serves forcing Devils to work hard recycling their attacks.  Sabrina through two again proved to the naysayers she can jump by making it to a surprise shoot and killing it with venom!  With emotions running high both teams were hitting hard and working to get the ball back, with  Chantelle and Agata making some fantastic pick ups. Chantelle's confidence was up helping carry Devils over the finish line with her hitting back and front court finding gaps.  Devils just managed to find the last couple of points at the end of the set for Worthing to edge it 26-24, but it could have gone either way!

MVP went to Chantelle but it must have been a close call between her and Agata!
A great game was finished with a cheeky half in the Northstar with the majority of the  East Grinstead team and supporters.  Up next is Brighton1 for Devils, while Demons take on East Grinstead's second ladies team tonight (Monday 24th Feb)

Bowling and Curry - Tuesday 4th March

As we can't use the hall next Tuesday 4th March - We thought we would use the time for our annual bowling night! Can Jets retain their title or will this years favourites the Devils continue their current run of form?  All anyone can say with certainty is the Vipers don't look a promising wager!

Everybody is welcome just let Dan or Amy know so they can book the lanes and curry.

6:45 meet in the bowling alley
7:00 bowling
Curry when we finish depending on numbers!

Hope to see you there!

Jets take a set from Crawley in a close match.

The Jets were without Matt Wilkes, Bernard and Marlon, but welcomed back Martin who missed the last match against the Vipers.

A great start to the match from the Jets who won a close first set against a much improved Crawley with great setting from Martin and hitting from eventual MVP Dom. The second set was a poor tempered affair from Crawley with one of their more vocal and poorly behaved players picking up a well deserved yellow card. The Jets lost the second and third sets as they struggled to cope with the excellent hitting from Crawley's MVP outside hitter No1. The Jets maintained their composure despite continued poor behaviour from Crawley who were intent on commenting on every decision that did not go their way, but energy levels dipped at critical times during the game.

A close forth set was eventually won by Crawley, but this was by far one of the best all round performances from the Jets. Performance of the season from Dom with Martin also playing out of his skin. Good blocking from Matt and Josh and sensible hitting from Iain and Luis means we enter the last few games of the season in good shape.

Strong serving during most of the match, but we just need to cut out serving and hitting errors during critical final phases of the game.

Well played Jets, I am proud of your performance and behaviour on court.

Sharks lose to Storrington

The Sharks played Storrington with a make shift team calling upon the support of Chantelle and Josh.  A strong Storrington team featured Emma and Zuz plus strong hitting from a couple of players that help their first team.

The first set went to Storrington with comparative ease as the Sharks got used to one and other, but improved in the second set with good hitting and back court cover from Chantelle and MVP Kishan.

Some great pickups and strong serving from Storrington's MVP, Emma, ensured they closed out a much closer third set.

Fitness Training

This year Freda has kindly offered the Club use of Durrington High School on a Monday between 18:00 and 20:00. Theresa is running a fitness session there, with the aim to reduce injuries as well as increase performance.

It's free for all Club members, so come along and try it out - here's a little taster to try and tempt you!

A great team performance!

Crawley Redstars vs Worthing Devils

Devils travelled to Crawley in the wind and rain without Trees, Chantelle, Paula or Amy.  Gemma and Brinee came along to help make up the numbers although neither of them were at their sparkling best.  While Robyn also carrying a knock from her earlier activities.  To help make up a squad Katy Begley made her début as an honorary Devil. 

With our usual outside players out Sintija played through four in the first set along side the versatile Brinee.  Gemma and Agata were the middles and Robyn and Mel were the setter and opposite. The teams traded points throughout the set with the Devils making a number of basic errors putting pressure on themselves. Worthing couldn't quite finish the rallies and Crawley were strong defensively picking up lots of hits.  At 22-18 down Devils started to find their feet and with Katy coming on front court making some big hits, it looked like they were going to steal the set fighting back to 24-25 serving for match point, before losing 27-25!

In the second set Brinee and Emma went through four, Katy and Agata through the middle, with Mel and Sintija in their usual positions.  Again the set started competitively, but this time the errors were cut out and the noise on court picked up, lead by team motivator and Captain Sintija!  With confidence came stronger hitting which slowly meant Worthing built a lead of 5 points which they never looked like relinquishing.  Katy playing her first full set made a difference running a number of shorts with Mel that Crawley didn't get near.

The same team started the third set, this time they started strongly from the start with five servers (Brinee, Katy, Sintija, Em and Agata) taking us to a 24 - 4 lead.  Although the serving was good the front court players worked hard blocking and hitting with good cover from the back court.  Again the team spirit on court was fantastic, with everyone working hard for each other and cheering each other on! 

Mel always consistent with the sets carried on setting in the fourth set, spreading the ball and keeping Crawley on their toes.  Em at four had to use all her cunning early in the set, following a block from a big hit, which Brinee scrabbled to cover, Em demanded the ball again for a tip which came back and then demanding it again for a roll down the line into a massive hole!  From there the team's heads were up and look to finish the game quickly.  Agata in front court had a couple of lovely hits deep to one which were very successful and soon Devils had a big lead and finished the set 25 - 12 winners.

Although she wasn't feeling well and was hoping to just support the team Brinee ended up playing the whole game through four.  She still managed to produced another MVP performance with great work back court, picking up the free balls, serve receiving well and covering Em's hits as well as her usual big hitting! 

A big thank you to the sickies that travelled and the assistant coach for the skittles and driving, especially taking the Captain home, saving her another hour and a half train journey from Worthing home!

Another short National League report!

Making sure they had their priorities right and were fully focused on the game, the girls first order of the day was to put the purple laces in and take a team photo.  Chantelle and Nigel - we'll have to get an updated one with you next game! (Chantelle was off sunning herself in Lanzarote - no commitment some people!) With Brinee's play-list pumping out tunes like "eye of the tiger" and "Can't hold us' the team started to get into the usual business of warming up in front of a fantastic crowd! Thanks Gemma's Army, the Farley family and our regular supporters it was great to see such a crowd there.

First match was against Cardiff Celts, playing through the outside was Sabrina and Amy, Robyn and Sintija were setter and opposite with Em, Agata and Gemma rotating through the middle. Trees made her first appearance in a white shirt for Worthing in the National League playing as Libero.  The first set started off slowly the high light being a beautifully ran short by Emma and Robyn.  It was 16-16 when Sintija stepped up to serve, luckily there was a touch on her first serve as it was sailing wayyyy out, but she went on to serve another 5 more putting Celts under pressure and limiting there attacking options.  From 22-16 it was just a matter of closing out the set, which Worthing did eventually 25-23, after getting stuck on one rotation and trying too hard to force the middle attack.

Set two started in much the same way as the first with both teams trading points and again it was strong consistent serving that made the difference this time with Sabrina finding her rhythm with some mean serves to give Worthing 15-10 lead. Worthing stepped it up from here with Amy hitting well through four and Sintija defending and attacking well.  The set finished a more comfortable 25-18.

Into set 3 would it be a classic case of third setitus?  Hell no! It was Worthing's strongest start to a set this match.  They were 19-7 up after 4 servers (good work Sabrina, Agata, Sintja and Amy) when they were called up for a screening fault.  The usually quiet Emma took exception and the coach had to have some stern words.  Her reaction was to absolutely cream the next ball within the 3metre line! Worthing went on to close out the set 25-12.

MVP went to the captain Sintija.

Libero performance 7.5/10 a little lazy swinging and covering the corners, but apart from that pretty damm good.

After stuffing our faces and having a gossip Bristol2 were up.  Trees was back to her usual position as outside hitter and captain, with Sabrina taking the other four spot.  Mel came on to set and the middle and opposite stayed the same.

In the first set Worthing and Bristol traded points to start with.  Strong blocking made a big difference with Agata, Gemma, Em, Sabrina and Sintija all setting the "roof on fire" to help us string together a run of points and put Bristol under pressure.  Brinee worked hard receiving and then swing hitting over the block to good effect and I'm pretty sure I saw her dive for a ball! It paid off we won the point and went on to win the set 25-18.

The next two sets Worthing won 25-21 and 25-18 playing better volleyball each set.  The hitting got stronger as the sets went on especially from Trees and Sintija but none quite as satisfying as  the screamer we finished the match on from Em.  

Sintija picked up her second MVP of the day to give her a chance of challenging Trees in the MVP stakes!

Thank you to everyone that helped on the day including Zuz, Dom and Steve Wisdom, Amelia (best scorer yet) and Sandrine as always your help and support is much appreciated!

Two great results girls - Celts and Wessex are up next in the National League on 23rd March again at Lancing.

Get involved with the Doubles and Triples tournament!

Worthing Volleyball Club (Emma) will be running the annual Doubles and Triples Tournament at Southwick Leisure Centre over the weekend of Sat 3rd and Sun 4th May 2014.

This is a fun tournament for all standards of player.  Last year Worthing was well represented on both days and hopefully we will have even more teams enter this year!

Triples Winners - Mark, Trees and Damo

Semi finalists Chantelle's Rejects - Chantelle, Jimmy and Mickey

By entering as well as getting a great day or two of Volleyball you are helping to keep down the monthly subs, which I'm sure the treasurer will be bringing up again at this years AGM.

There is a Facebook event for this so please spread the word by "sharing" and inviting anyone you think would enjoy taking part!

Get involved - attached is the entry form with all the details.  It is also available on the Club website and on the Facebook event.  Good luck!

https://www.facebook.com/events/498157720294191/

http://worthingvolleyballclub.blogspot.co.uk

Oh and it would be a great help if we can get a few volunteers to help set up the courts on the Friday evening, 2nd May and/or help out on the day.  Please let Emma, Andy or Dan know if you can help or if you have questions.