Devils Local and National League catch up

Since the last post Devils have played Worthing Demons and Dolphins Local League, South Hants National League and Essex again but this time in the National Cup.

To keep Steve's interest I won't write full match reports for them all :)

The Demons game started competitively but Devils experience showed through and they finished the sets stronger winning 3-0, with Mel missing Trees set.  Katie Lay helped out and had good game covering well through six and putting away some nice hits.

The Dolphins game was unique as all the Devils were early/on time and Captain Sintija was so keen to get going had them warming up at 17:55 half an hour before the start! The team was Gem and Agi in the middle, Chantelle and Brinee outspend and Sintija and Trees opposite and setter.  The warm up must have worked as they stormed the first set.  A poor running of hitting cost the Devils in the second set and they were 8-0 down before  spirited fight back to win the second set.  The third set went to Dolphins but more clinical finishing and consistent serving saw them win the fourth comfortable to remain undated locally.

South Hants away saw a pleura of supporters turn up, Martin and Andy Wareham, Gemma, Howard and Todd as well as Amy's sister!  A positive start saw Worthing go 2-0 up, with Amy hitting well through the outside with Chantelle.  Devils then switched off as Hants improved and pushed back fighting for every point to pull the game back to 2-2.  A positive response saw Worthing win the fifth though!

The cup and another trip to Essex and another 5 setter - Worthing are getting used to these at the moment!  Cait made her first appearance for Worthing but Brinee was missing which meant that Cait was partnered by Trees, then Chantelle and finally Paulina through the middle!  still the main thing was a result a win for Worthing and a visit soon to Swiss Cottage!

Here's some pictures of the warm up as the rest were rather blurry!

Weekend round up

Sharks fought hard with two ladies helping out for the first time this season, but lost to a ever improving Brighton team. MVP Kish

Angels though notched up their first win (hopefully of many) 3-0, with both Tayna and Sylwia playing well. MVP Em

Devils also won 3-0 at home to EG2 who also are improving each time we play them, helped by having Elaine there to guide them and take control in the moments they got pulled out of shape. MVP Sintija

Devils play an improving EG2

Devils took on EG2 missing Amy and Em (playing with Angels).  The team set up with Brinne and Chantelle through four, Agi and Gem in the middle and Sintija and Mel in there usual spots.

Simon had stepped up to coach EG2 and managed to get a team together roping in Lou and Elaine from the first team and sweet talking others to play.  Sintija always the thoughtful host captain gave the serve to the opposition.  A tentative start from both teams saw EG get the better of the early passage of play with Elaine and Simon organising and encouraging the team.  The game turned on Chantelle’s serving supported by Brinee finding the line and Sintija covering big areas of the court encouraging the team to pick up the level of their performance.  Those 7 points pulled Devils back into the game and the young EG team looked a little nervous.  A big hit from Lou encouraged them but wasn't enough to get them back into the game, with Gemma’s sneaky serve picking up runs of points and the set finished 25-16.

The same Devils team started set 2 and again traded points at the start of the game, a rested Agi though tested her shoulder out and picked up 8 points many ace’s to give Devils a 14-6 lead which looked insurmountable for EG2.  Good spells setting and serving from their 49 made the game interesting and although a come back wasn’t on the cards EG played nice volleyball and smiled throughout (except when facing Sintija’s serve when it was more of a grimace).  Tree’s came on to set for the second half of the set, although it took awhile to get used to getting in quickly the setting its self looked good! 25–14 was the final score.

In the third set Sintija and Trees shared the setting and Katie Lay started through the outside after joining us halfway through the second set (just back from beating Brighton Pitates 3-0), although Devils started well building a 8-2 lead EG came back though Elaine’s serving and better first balls in which enable their front court of Faber, Popova and Treween to run a more effective attack.  Devils remained strong and saw the set and game out 25-19 

MVP’s went to Sintija

It's Christmas......well it's October and we are planing our festive socials!

For all Club members Local and National we are trying somewhere new for the Christmas meal Limings Mexican restaurant.  Our Social Secretary Amy is organising this for 2nd December and the booking needs to be confirmed ASAP so speak to her quickly if you want to come!

We can't get into the hall on 25th November so there will be no training but instead we will be going over to the Chilli Pickle for a curry and then Ice-Skating.  Let Dan know if you are interested in joining in part or all of the evening.

Christmas mini triples tournament will be run instead of training on 18th December followed by drinks at the North Star.  A Teamer will go out shortly so Andy can try and get even-ish teams (by coincident "Team Lay" won last year consisting of Andy, Matt and Katie!) please respond to the teamer or let Andy know if you can make it.

MVP's for September and October...

Here's the total MVP's leader board for Worthing.  As you can see everyone is still in with a chance of claiming the title of Most Valuable Player.

An epic 5 set battle!

I haven't even started writing this match report but have a feeling that i could waffle on due to the nature and length of the match, an epic 2 hours 15 mins.  You have my since apologies if this is the case! Also I tend to forget to include the MVP so in case I do it was Paulina - well played! 

Two cars travelled up to Essex to spend the day in a cold and dusty sports hall while the sun was shining outside.  The journey up was pretty uneventful with only the cry of "eww hummus" as Chantelle spattered herself, which amused the rest of the car.  Both cars arrive simultaneously and with an hour to spare, so spent the time chillin' in the sun munching on M&S goodies.  Mel took a little trip, years of practice with glasses of wine showed as she didn't spill a drop of her coffee although had scrapes all up her arm and bruised her knee! Not the most auspicious of starts for our setter!

Set one had the Farley's through the middle, Paulina and Chantelle outside and Sintija and Mel opposite and setter.  A few errors from Worthing saw them give momentum and an early lead to Essex.  Paulina struggled early on with playing in a different system although was a natural by the end of the five sets and kept smiling throughout (a rarity I'm told).  Both teams looked a little edgey and tense and they traded points until the number 25 from Essex served four on the bounce and from 16-12 Essex kept that gap until the end winning 25-20.

Not wanting to lose the first two sets again Worthing came out in fighting spirit but Essex matched them and their number 30 caused issues with the serve receive winning 7 points and giving Essex the lead 12-5.  Paulina serving at 8-15 brought Worthing level was a fine display of float serving and supported by some big blocks front court.  At 24-21 Worthing though they had the set in the bag but Essex had other ideas and the 25 brought them back to 25-24. With Essex at 26-25 Paulina dived low and to her right managing to get a strong hand to what looked like a sure winner for Essex, saving the point and keeping the team in the set.  But still either team blinked with consistent serving and no one making errors the set kept going until Chantelle stepped up to serve at 29-29 to put Essex under pressure with solid deep serves and good first balls into Mel gave her options and a stuff block from Sintija (which she celebrated on her own!!) and a clever tip from Paulina got Worthing the set and back into the game - 31-29!

Oh to set three and after winning that mammoth set lasting 32 mins Worthing started stronger consistently getting runs of serve and putting Essex under pressure mixing hits with tips. The Brinne serve might not have been the beast it was against Richmond but it was made up for but intelligent hitting the "Byerly special" tip was employed to good effect and a couple of blocks front court had the girls dancing on court!  Treesy as always covered big areas of court and did well calmly recycling hit after hit to keep the point alive and Worthing came out winners 25-20.

The fourth set again was a slow starter, service and simple tipping errors gave Trinity a boost that Worthing couldn't afford early on and they struggled to get back into the game.  Chantelle's serving again helped but couldn't claw them back.  Essex middles did well getting to the outside and we're getting a strong double block to both the Worthing outsides.  Paulina did well wiping off them and finding some acute angled hits, but in the end Essex won 25-21.

Worthing went into their second five setter this season tentatively going into the time out 8-6 down and not serving well and at 13-9 heads were down.  A good serve deep to one gave Worthing a free ball which Trees hoovered up and Mel gave Paulina a lovely set BOOM a kill to one. Sintija hit the next from back court and suddenly it was a different team - the noise levels were up and two shanks brought Worthing level.  Chantelle pushed on and a block from Trees and another shank saw Worthing just claim the win! A good competitive match all round! 

Although we have to play Essex in the cup in a few weeks and again at home - let's not have 5 sets there!

A professional start in Div2!

The national league team played twice this weekend, at home to South Hants and away to Richmond.  Chantelle couldn't make the games as she was on a jolly to Poland, luckily her mum and Craig are more dedicated and still came along to support the team.  Agi is on Maternity leave (hope the scan went well) but came along to help out by doing a line.  The rest of the team were available for the home game.  Hopefully at some point we will be able to get a full team photo, but I don't know when....probably the Christmas meal!

Paulina started her first game for Worthing through the outside with captain Theresa, Em and Brinee were though the middle with Sintija and Mel opposite and setter.  Gemma, Amy and newbie Tracy were on the bench along with coaches Dan and Mr Byerley who was making his first bench appearance for Worthing NL!

South Hants had a tall team that looked to dominate the net, happily for Worthing Brinee was matched against their tallest player and while giving away 3 or 4 inches still managed to get strong hands to most balls while putting away some big hits herself.  

From the start Worthing dominated through strong serving putting Hants on the back foot.  Paulina stepped into the serve receive with Trees and Sintija pretty seamlessly and good balls in gave the setter options.  Some communication issues still need to be resolved, but it was good to see the team try and implement what they have been working on in practice. 

Gemma came on at the end of the first two sets and although not confident going on, she made a positive impact and started the third set for Em.  Tracy came on to set for the final two sets in place of Mel linking up well with local team mate Paulina and Emma through the middle.

The third set started positively with Worthing building a comfortable lead again off the back of strong serving from Brinee, Paulina and Sintija.  Gemma in the process of running in for a quick attack through the middle slipped, which had everyone concerned, although she bounced straight back with a grin it seemed to cause the team to lose focus for a couple of points, before rallying and finishing professionally to win 3-0.

The first home tea of the season was pretty good with traditional Latvian goodies, which were scoffed down along with the standard cakes (no home made ginger cake though!), sandwiches, fruit etc although Nigel was a little disappointed that Em had hidden the crisps!

The team were very keen to start against Richmond on Sunday and due to a slight technical issue were two hours early rather than the standard one!  On the plus side we got to watch a good game between Richmond men's second team against Norwich, their juniors were impressive and even pulled off a textbook pancake for the crowd!

Amy and Gemma couldn't make this game so we were down to the starting six from Saturday along with Tracy, who started setting.  A solid first set saw Worthing control the game for long spells, although Richmond had a ever say die attitude and picked up a number of balls Worthing thought they had finished.  The first set saw Trees put away a nicely run b ball and Sintija ran a crossover that went narrowly wide (no complaints about the communication there - the call could be heard back in Worthing!!) off a good pass in from Paulina. Sintija also pulled off a sneaky dump off the second ball that is becoming a trademark move for her!

In the second set Mel smoothly came on for Tracy and set well finding the middles and getting balls out to the ariel for Trees!  Paulina kept her focus and even with a timeout called she kept serving her usual strong float causing difficulties for the Richmond serve receive. Worthing build a lead they didn't look like giving up.

Richmond in the third set came out stronger with their outside hitter finding the line constantly and the number 16 middle dominating the early exchanges.  A couple of minor tactical adjustments the coach should have mentioned earlier resolved this and the team fought back narrowly dropping the set.  Mark will be upset we got caught out by an early short serve, which had Trees scrambling, while she got a hand to it, there was no way to recycle it.  Em kept head 19-16 down tipping into the space at 4 when they had a double block on her to get Worthing a point and serve, but they couldn't quite claw back the initiative and lost the set 

Keen to avoid the lottery of a fifth set Worthing wanted to finish professionally and Brinee started this with her bullet serve, after three or four of these a short serve was thrown in for an ace, which the team all appreciated!  The Farley's continued to linked up well with Brinee setting Trees for a change and what a beautiful ball it was..... Trees took full advantage spiking a clean winner into the gap.  Paulina not to be out done was hitting well testing the block and getting  points from some good angled shots.  In the end Worthing controlled the majority of the game with their serving and serve receive to edge the win.  "That's the way aha aha I like it"!

Choosing an MVP for Richmond was tough, in the end it came down to the number 16 through the middle and the setter - the setter edged it.  For Worthing our captain (Trees) picked up her first MVP of the season - well played!

Worthing are back in action next weekend away to Essex.

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Devils struggle against a injury prone EG!

A trip to EG isn’t the same without someone getting lost, a couple of minor detours for team Churcher meant that Chantelle et al had been waiting a while and were mid warm up by the time they turned up.  While Agi was still no-where to be seen, the locals were learning new Polish swear words and her new sat-nav was in danger of being thrown out the widow!

Worthing had a small but strong squad with Chantelle, Trees, Brinee, Agi, Mel, Sintija and Em.  EG1 on the other hand had a team assembled on the day registering players, playing players up and players missing or playing with injuries!

A up-beat Devils started well with Agi and Sintija serving deep and putting EG under pressure from the start.  A good first ball in and setting meant that Worthing sided out first time for the first five servers until Paulina stepped up and served 5 on the trot bringing EG back to 10-15.  Sintija not wanting to be outperformed took up the challenge and served the next 7 points supported by good hitting from Trees and Agi.  This was a fairly comfortable set (25-16) and the game looked like it would be a quick 3-0 and drive down to the Market Dinner to meet Vipers for a fry up to celebrate a double win.

However EG1 came out like a different team in the second set, the early nervous and communication issues miraculously disappeared, while Devils looked a little complaisant making numerous serve errors and gave easy points away.  A Brinee dive early on showed how committed and determined to win they were, but EG never let a ball hit the floor with fantastic cover all round.  Brinee's dive was matched and exceeded by Mandy's pancake which turned the momentum towards EG and you could see the tension get to a couple of Devils as hitting errors started to creep in at the end of the set, which finished 25-21.

Set three saw Devils come out fighting and again Sintija's bullet serving gave Devils a strong start 6-3 and they kept that lead through the set up to 11-15, until they got stuck on a rotation with Vanya serving, supported by Paulina hitting well through four which turned the game in EG flavour 19 -15.  Strong hitting from Chantelle kept Worthing in the set and the referee did well controlling the game as the tension cranked up at 24-24, with Anna  picking up what looked like a sure winner from Chantelle and EG then got the rub of the green with the net being kind to them to win the set 26-24 after some great play from both teams.

Captain Sintija rallied the troops and while there were some early serve errors from both teams, Mel stepped up and with controlled serves deep to five and a strong attacking line at the net Worthing built a lead.  Two stuff blocks from Brinee along with a couple of screamers one from Brinee and the other from Sintija that even the solid defence of EG couldn't get hands too edged it as Devils got into full swing winning 25-15.

Devils looked more relaxed and were keen to start the final set after winning the fourth. Emma came on to give another strong serve in the short set and another calm head on court (cough cough), while Agi made more noise off court than all the players and supporters combined!  Again this was a competitive set with good play from both teams. Devils started strong with Brinee serving well and built a four point lead from the start, but good cover by Vanya and Paulina kept EG in the game and a stuff block by Louise had Worthing on the back foot for a moment before Mel again helped them compose themselves with her consistent serve and back court setting to finish strong 15-11.

Considering the makeshift/injury heavy team this was a great performance by EG and goes to show how good the Sussex Volleyball League is - both teams will be looking to prove a point in the rematch!

Vipers tame the Dragons

Vipers returned to Eastbourne for the second week in a row, but without Mark and Matt Lay to take on their second team. Nigel turned out for his first match of the season playing through the middle with Andy setting, Mickey opposite, Andrew middle, Damo outside, Matt Smith outside and Richard as Libero.

The Vipers struggled to find their groove in the first set, but never really looked like losing it with Nigel soon finding his feet through the middle? Better hitting from Matt in the second saw Vipers close it out to 9 points and the final set was never in any doubt even moving Nigel to the outside and Damo through the middle.

So an early finish for a change and straight to the Market Diner! Damo picked up MVP.

A tired Devils take on Teela

After a tough five setter it was back to the high school to officiate another five setter Sharks against Llamdos, with Sharks improving every time they play.  It was great to see the same six players for two games on the trot and Ben being able to make it gave them a squad, although being thrown in at opposite was a big challenge for him!  Another good performance to push an experienced Llamdos so far and MVP to Kish.

Devils happily had Agi join them for this game although Gem couldn't leave Todd this time.  They started with Chantelle and Amy through four, Brinee and Agi in the middle and the usual Mel and Sintija as setter and opposite.  A slower paced game let Devils run the combinations and Mel and Sintija worked well running the cross over again once Agi had got over her surprise!  (Although watching the middle run away from the set was rather amusing in the second set - Trees!)  A comfortable 25 - 12 with Sabrina picking up 11 points from her serve and terrorising the players covering at five.

Set two saw Brinee move to four with Amy, Trees played through the middle and Agi, Mel and Sintija stayed as before.  The move to four didn't affect Brinee's serving as she continued to rain power serves down on Teela and Sintija joined in on the action.  A knee slide dive early in the set from Agi showed the commitment and determination from Devils to push on from their strong start and back court Agi was covering well picking up the tips well.  Sintija enjoyed a couple of screamers from back court.

In the third and final set Devils set up the same as in the second, with Chantelle coming on for Trees through the middle for part of the set.  Again the Brinee serve caused problems for Teela's serve receive giving the Devils a 9-0 lead.  Consistent line hitting from Sintija and Brinee worked well and a big middle hit from Chantelle finished off the game and set 25-12, 25-17 and 25-11.

MVP didn't surprise anyone - Well done Brinee although don't be so quick to step out of the pass!

No blood, but shed loads of sweat and tears!

Match day one for Worthing in the Div2 was always going to be a tough game, away to Dulwich Tusker who narrowly lost out in a playoff match to go into Division1. The core of last year's team were there but Gem and Agi stayed home to hang out with Todd and Oscar and the newbies couldn't play either, Paulina was on a Marco weekend and Tracy had dislocated a finger earlier in the week against Dolphins1. Although she showed great team spirit and came along to support!

 The morning started well with the sun shining and a smooth drive up to Tooting with DJ Brinee putting on an old Skool R&B set with the odd S Club 7 or hard rock thrown in for Trees. There was even time for a quick coffee pit stop/toilet break for those with weak bladders on route.

 The starting line-up for each set was Chantelle and Trees through the outside, Brinee and Em in the middle and Sintija and Mel opposite and setter.

While the first two sets looked close 25-23 and 25 - 20 in reality after a great first point with a text book pass from Chantelle, a lovely set and a power hit down the line from Sintija, Tuskers dominated the early rallies and Worthing were kept in the sets though their errors rather than good play. Worthing struggled with the basics they usually excel at including serving and serve receive and the tension on the court was palpable with even the usual up-beat Sintija getting emotional and making errors trying to force the issue. Late rallies in both sets gave a glimmer of hope and strong vocal support from Tracy and Amy on the bench and our two supporters Chandelle's mum and Craig on the horn, drums and tambourine helped lift the team. At 16 - 22 down in the first set it was strong serving from Chantelle that turned the game and got is to 23 - 22 before Worthing choked at the end losing the next 3 points.

A more positive start in the third set meant that Worthing trading points this time from the start and at the first technical time out were only one point behind. They started to push from here and slowly fought their way back into the third set. A better first ball in gave Mel setting options which she used wisely and this meant that the hits improved and for the first time they got to 16 first (16-14) from here they pushed hard. Some good hitting from Chantelle and Sintija carried the team over the line, but it was the return of the solid serve throughout the team and great first balls in from Trees (who seemed to magically be wherever the ball was going), that really made the difference, putting Dulwich on the back foot and stopping them running as many combination attacks.

In the fourth it was back to the slow start and it looked to have cost them the momentum and probably the set when they were 6-1 down. However Sabrina was starting to find her range and got Worthing back in the game and to 6-9 in front. A wobbly spell lead to high emotions on court but the team reacted positively with everyone covering well and Em settled nervous with a "Scum"-esq style piece of nonchalance pirouetting and hitting to a massive gap at 1, that was followed by a fantastic pick up in the next point which nearly gave everyone else palpitations in her current state! At this point the adrenaline on court was pumping and the crowd were generating energy and a fantastic atmosphere (just wait until we add the Latvians into the mix!). Emma's serving took us to 20-10, supported by Sabrina making a couple stuff blocks that Crockett would have been proud of! Everyone finally settled into their usual style of play finishing the fourth set strong and looking keen to get into the final set!

Again in the final set Sabrina started serving well with two aces and forcing a couple of shanks to give Worthing a 5-2 lead. Worthing went into the change of ends 8-6 up with Chantelle serving and the front court working hard Brinee made another stuff block and crowd were lovin' it! the score was 15-7 and a happy start to Div2 for Worthing. MVP went to Chantelle!

 The next games are 18th October home to South Hants and 19th October away to Richmond - Come along and cheer them on!

Vipers Back on Track

Vipers traveled away to Eastbourne Phoenix with the same squad that lost against Crawley last week. A nervous first set saw Eastbourne win a close set with Vipers continuing to struggle with their first pass. The second set saw a better first pass and less errors resulting in Vipers winning thanks to better hitting through the outside from Matt Smith and Damo.

Vipers started the third set poorly and very quickly were down 6-1. More noise, better defence and a good service run from Andrew saw the Vipers come back strongly to win the third. Vipers started strong in the fourth and won with relative ease having built up a big lead very quickly.

The Market dinner finished of the evening and we look forward to return trip next Monday against Eastbourne's newly promoted second team. Mark picked up MVP.

Poor Start For the Vipers

Vipers head for Eastbourne on Monday looking to restart their season following a  3-2 defeat away to Crawley. Following the loss of Dom and Edvin over the summer and without Nigel the Vipers started well winning the first two sets with relative ease. The third set was much closer but all of a sudden the Vipers first pass fell apart under pressure from strong float serving by Crawley. Things did not improve in the fourth set and by the final set the writing was on the wall.

So time to improve our first pass and get our season back on track against Eastbourne's first team which could be an even tougher test.

Septembers MVP's

The competition is on! Here are Septembers MVP's and Matt Smith picked up the first of October's most valuable players last night.

Angels v Devils

Angel's opening game of the season was always going to be a challenge trying to gel six players and get the rotations right after just a few hours of training is an impossible task, added to that they were playing the winners of the league - Devils (and they certainly didn't want to lose to a team from their own club!)

Angels look to have lost Cleo, so Sandrine stepped into set with Sylwia opposite, Em and Katie through the outside and Aly and Tanya middle.

The Devils were at full strength except for Em, with the pleasant surprise of Gemma making it down for the game! The coach showed no mercy and threw her straight into the game, meaning the Farley's kept each other company on the bench.

The opening points were tit-for-tat with both teams starting strongly and the Devils caught a bit on the back foot from the fight from the Angels! Mark would have been pleased as both teams served well with no errors.  It wasn't until 7-7 when the Devils started to open up a points gap, with the consistent strong hits dragging Angels all over the court.  Although Tanya did a terrific job covering the lines the combined hitting through 2 and 4 slowly put Devils in front.  Emma enjoyed being part of the serve receive for a change passing in good balls for Sandrine to set, which Katie, Sylwia and Aly took advantage of. Angels finished strong and Katie even cracked a smile (rare for any Lay) after a couple of power hits from four!  Army's consistent hitting got Devils out of tricky situations a couple of times following shanks from hits by Sylwia and Aly.

The second set saw Brinee come on through the outside for Amy.  Strong runs of serve early in the set by Chantelle and Agi gave the Devils a big 10 point gap, but a good time out from the Angels coach saw them settle and refocus coming back with good front court play from Sylwia, Tanya and Katie.  Sintija and Mel started to link up well and a better first ball in meant they could run a cross over successfully - Training paying off! Brinee enjoyed playing through four and put some big hits over and Agi for the second game in a row was dominant front court, but they didn't have it all there own way and there were numerous points when they had to scrabble the ball back following hits from Tanya and Katie. They even forced the first pancake of the year from Amy (on for Chantelle) whoop whoop!

Trees came on for Gemma in the final set and Amy was back on for Brinee. Angels came out all guns blazing in the third set determined not to give away early strings of points on serve receive and they didn't, keeping the game very close until Trees stepped up to serve five points in a row, mainly due to communication issues as the first ball in was generally pretty good and with the height in the Angels they will challenge a lot of teams. It was good to see Chantelle run a 'b' run on for the last point of the game!  The final score was 25-16, 25-14, 25-14.

If Angels play like that every week we will see some upsets and possibly a challenger to Mickey for 'most passionate coach!'

Well played Sintija a well deserved MVP it was great to see you applying the training in a game and thanks for bringing the 'Mafia' It was a tough call for Angels MVP everyone played so well with both Tanya, Sylwia and Katie all nominated by various members of Devils! In the end Tanya was chosen - congratulations!

Vipers match against Eastbourne cancelled.

Vipers game against Eastbourne cancelled as they cannot get a team tomorrow Sunday 28th Sept. Still need enough to officiate match between Angels and Devils.

Next Vipers match away against Crawley next Wednesday 1st of October.

2014/15 opening game - Devils vs Freedom Pirates

So here we go again, the start of a brand new season.  Devils were missing Amy, Mel, Gemma and Sintija (sunning yourself in Portugal is that really a good enough excuse from the captain...? Well yes, I'd probably say so) were playing at home to the newly formed Freedom Pirates.  

Katie Lay stepped up for her first game with the Devils and lucky for them that she did! A string of errors from Devils in the opening set meant that the score was tied 6-6 before Katie stepped up to serve and calm everyone's nervous (ok mainly the coaches) by giving them a 7 point gap.  The Devils not wanting to be shown up followed suit with Em power serving 7 more and Trees going for placement over power and racking up 5 to win the set comfortably.

The next two sets started better but Devils never got out of first gear.  Agata dominated front court putting away some good dig sets from Trees and a number of loose balls from Pirates, which would have been enough to get her MVP on other days instead auntie Chantelle took the honours, after a fine performance, leading by example calling for the ball and cheering the rest of the team on to a 25-9, 25-12, 25-10 victory!

For the first two sets Em and Agi played through the middle, Katie and Chantelle through four and Brinne and Trees opposite and setter.  In the final set the ever versitile Brinee finally sweet talked the coach into playing her in the one position that eluded her last season...setter!  After giving the second ref some stick she settled into the role, setting well but also nailing a couple of big blocks while front court!

It was great to see some of the new club members come along to see how games work and the team  appreciated Gemma and Todd making it down to support the team, even if it was a flying visit!

Great Start To The Season

Devils played their first match without many regulars including Sintija, Amy, Gemma and Mel. This meant Emma playing up from the Angels and Katie Lay starting her first match again playing up from the Angels. After a slow start to the first set normal service was resumed and they won the match 3-0. Watch this space in case Dan loads a more detailed report!

Jets started slow against Crawley with a debut for Nino, Matt Lay playing his first match opposite and Mickey through the outside. Having lost Bernard, Dom, Matt Wilkes and Iain over the summer it was a case of getting to know each other in the first set. Jets lost the first set, but cut out the mistakes to win the next two sets before losing the fourth which set up a fifth set thriller!

A flying start to the final set with lots of noise and fewer mistakes enabled a 3-2 winning start to the season.

Luis picked up MVP for the Jets and Chantelle for the Devils.

September Match Dates

Details of our opening matches during September below. Squads to be finalised once we know who is definitely signing up to play again this season, but hopefully we will know next Tuesday as the first games are due to be played on the 14th!

Sunday 14th Sept Devils v Pirates (18:00)
Sunday 14th Sept Jets v Crawley (20:00)
Sunday 21st Sept Brighton Teela v Demons (16:00)
Sunday 21st Sept Angels v Devils (18:00)
Sunday 21st Sept Sharks v Storrington (20:00)
Monday 22nd Sept Eastbourne Dragons v Jets (19:15)
Sunday 28th Sept Angels v Eastbourne (18:00)
Sunday 28th Sept Vipers v Eastbourne Dragons (20:00)

New Season Is Only Weeks Away

Hi, The new season is fast approaching with the Devils and Jets both playing our first games at the High School on the 14th of September! I have sent out the fixtures to everyone on Teamer, but please email me if you need them. This season we have a new "Angels" ladies team that Emma will be coaching which means we will have 3 Men's and Ladies teams for the first time ever! It will be a very busy season and including the Ladies NVL games we will have more than 120 to play this season. Losing so many players over the summer our Men's teams are going to have very small squads unless we have an influx of new players before the season starts, but Tim will manage the Sharks, Dan the Jets and I will manage the Vipers. Please can you look at your teams fixtures and let your coach and or team secretary know as soon as possible if you cannot make any games. With all teams having small squads there will be lots of games and I suspect we will rely on individuals playing up, playing down and ladies playing for the Men's teams! If you are unsure which Team you are in, then please email me or talk to me or one of the coaches next Tuesday. Andrew Crockett, there are key games against Arun and Brighton Adur in April so plenty of notice and no excuses this season ;-) We will be using Teamer again this season, so please sort out you access and passwords etc as soon as you can. Please make our Team secretaries lives easier, but responding to Teamer as soon as possible and if you cannot make a match for whatever reason the sooner we know the sooner we can arrange cover. Vipers - Coach Mark Byerley and Secretary Andy Lay Jets - Match Coach Martin Hicks and Secretary Dan Wright Sharks - Coach and Secretary is Tim Eady, but he could do with some help ( Kishan, Ben Ebber?). Devils local and NVL - Dan Wright Coach Demons - Mickey Earle Coach and Secretary Sandrine. Angels - Coach Emma Finally when you play home fixtures at the High School it will be a double header which means you will need to officiate another match either before or straight after yours! With small squads ALL players will needs to help provide 2 officials, minimum 2 line judges, a scorer and someone to turn the scores. That makes 6 players required and with most squads only having 7 players it will be all hands to the pump. Good luck this season and keep a look out for news, match reports, photographs and even the odd video on our FaceBook and Website! http://www.worthingvolleyballclub.blogspot.co.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/131892616993064/ https://www.facebook.com/WorthingVolleyballClub?fref=ts

Tuesday at the beach

The sun came out Tuesday and our Social Sec leapt into action, quickly organising an impromptu barbecue.  It was great to see such a good turnout of club members and a couple of new people!

Thanks to Andy and Em for cooking and Richard for tidying up.

Hopefully Dani is feeling ok after eating a burger that makes a steak tartare look well done!

Worthing AGM - The less serious awards!

After the more formal part of the evening we moved on to the less serious awards! Would Iain win the speedy Gonzales award for the second year, which habitual texter would win lines person of the year, which "strop" had been noticed and would be rewarded with strop monster of the year?

Most injured player of the year was fiercely contested this season, but Theresa walked off with the award and a fresh cabbage to aid her recovery!













Serial texters, food munchers and the easily distracted looked nervous until Dom picked up "Linesperson of the year".


 The gone fishing award was awarded to Josh in his absence. Iain looked disappointed that the Speedy Gonzales award would be rested this year, but perked up when he picked up the inaugural "Basil Fawlty Officiating Award" (I am sure he will delight in explaining why)!

Strop of the year (just saying...) award went to Matt Lay (was it ever in any doubt!













Passionate Coach (Hair dryer treatment) award went to Micky. The Dale Carnegie "How to win friends and influence people" award went to Mark.

 "Play of the Season" was awarded in recognition of the well rehearsed "shoulder pass, kick the ball and spike" move that was used to great affect against East Grinstead.

On a slightly more serious note Agata picked up the Commitment Award for her efforts supporting both the Devils and NVL team and Sintija picked up a "Leadership" award.

AGM and Annual Awards

Following another great season on and off the court we held our AGM and awards evening. After a few drinks a curry and the serious (boring) bit we got to the part everyone had been waiting for and found out who would be walking away with the coveted Player of the Season, Most Improved Player awards, Nigel's Accolade plus would there be an special awards this season!

Most Improved

Demons player of the year - Sophie Davies
Devils payer of the year - Chantelle Bashford
Ladies NVL player of the year - Sintija Vigante

Devils Player of the Year

NL - Player of the Year

Sharks player of the year - Kishan Marrottee
Jets player of the year - Matt Lay
Vipers player of the year - Damian Roberts Worthing

Most Improved Female - Sabrina Farley
Most Improved Male - Ben Wilkinson

Nigel's accolade - Dan Wright
Special Award for taking the club forward including establishing the ladies NVL team - Emma Churcher.

Other awards were made recognising the roles that Dan Wright (match coach), Mark Byerley (excellent training) and Nigel Jupp (sponsorship) all played helping the Ladies in their first and very
successful season.

Sharks Player of the Year

Jets Player of the Year

Vipers Player of the Year

Beach Tournaments 2014

Ashcombe and South East VA Beach Tournaments 2014

At Worthing Sand Courts, Worthing, West Sussex BN11 2EJ

http://ashcombevolleyball.co.uk/wordpress/summer-beach-tournaments-entries-now-open/

Worthing Beach Bash
Saturday 24th May 2014

Ashcombe Beach Tournament  [1]  June
Saturday 21st June 2014

Ashcombe Beach Tournament [2] July
Sunday 13th July 2014

Ashcombe Beach Tournament [3] August
Saturday 9th August 2014

Freda

End of Season wrap up!

Now that the season has finished for all teams, here is a run down of our plans for the next month...

22 April - training as usual

29 April - Beach 6-8

6 May - AGM

13 May - Beach Volleyball 18:30 - 20:30 every Tuesday

A couple of quick notices

1) There has been a great response to the AGM with every team well represented, but if you haven't responded yet let me know ASAP if you are coming along and would like the free curry!

2) If you haven't received a teamer this morning for tomorrows training it's probably because Teamer has had a refresh and it has gone into your spam folder - please let your email client know that teamer isn't junk mail (no matter what your personal opinion may be!)

3) Can you teamer if you are joining in the tournament on the 13th May (it will be sent in just a minute!) as Andy has kindly volunteered to organise it and he needs to know numbers to sort out the teams.... will "Team Lay" be defending their Christmas title?

4) If you have left it late to enter the Doubles and Triples tournament at Southwick you need to get the money and form to Em on Tuesday - this is the final deadline!  Also we will be having a raffle to raise money for the club at the Doubles and Triples, if you have anything you would like to contribute that would be marvellous, please pass it to Me, Em or Andy.

5) Nearly forgot this one - if you haven't already heard from your team coach or secretary regarding the Sussex Cup on the 15th June you will soon!  Please respond quickly as we need to let the organisers know how many teams we will be entering!

Ok, this should be (fingers crossed) my last email for this season, so I just want to say a big thank you to all the coaches and secretaries for doing a great job organising your teams and fixtures it has made my job so much easier.  Also thanks to all the volunteers who stay and line, score and officiate and take all the stick for the "dubious decisions"!

Demons - Final Game of the Season

Andy has more video evidence of how much Demons have progressed this year with highlights of their last game of the season against Crawley!

Undefeated - BOOOOM!

The final weekend of the National League saw Worthing travel to Southampton to play Solent and Sussex Dolphins.  They had a full team except for Amy, but were carrying a couple of injuries to Trees and Sintija. The team arrived super early so had time to enjoy a little of the days sunshine and take the last pre-game team photo of the season with their Latvian minders, before showing off their muscles and co-ordination pre-game.

Add caption

The Big Guns - Boom!

Missing Gem from the top! - That'll have to wait until next year!

Flexible...maybe, graceful not a chance!

Once the warm up started, it was back to the serious business of winning these two games to finish as Champions and undefeated this season in the National League.  

The starting team were Robyn, Sintija, Em, Agata, Chantelle and Brinee. The trend of Worthing starting slowly struck again and before we had switched on, we were 11 - 4 down.  A combination of Robyn serving well and three attacking options pulled Worthing back into the game and brought us to 18 - 16 up.  Brinee again in her preferred position (the coach must be going soft) playing through four took the opportunity with both hands, terrorising the opposition with her massive blocks and power attacks!  Agata front court through the middle was winning her personal battle and made sure that Solent always had a strong double block.  Chantelle as always was putting in good first balls, but struggled at first running the B ball, which made it all the more rewarding when it worked a couple of points later for a winner that Solent didn't get close to! Once they edged in front Worthing never looked like slipping up and closed the set 25-19.

The second set started with the teams trading points until Em and Robyn inspired Worthing with a beautifully ran cross-over which rattled Solent, causing their coach to call a time out.  Having Sintija back gave Worthing an extra dimension to their attack through opposite and working with Chantelle they bossed the serve receive.  Worthing won this set in a tighter 25 - 22. 

In the third set Brinee was on fire front court causing havoc with the Solent defence winning three points in quick succession with power hits down the line before mixing it up with a tip and cross court hit.  Agata was all over her counter-part like a rash blocking her twice on the trot and putting away the middle sets from Robyn to the calls of “Agi Agi Agi”.  Worthing won the final set with a relatively comfortable 25 - 13.   Agata after a fine performance took the Worthing MVP award.


The 3-0 win was celebrated by a quick "that's the way aha aha I like it" and a very tasty Latvian sandwich (I think we have a new candidate for NL caterer for our home games next year!).   Worthing then had to re-focus to face Dolphins, the very team they had lost to last weekend following a tough 5 setter.  While the team were warming up Carl slipped off to find champagne and glasses to celebrate winning the league.

To start the Dolphins game the only change to the starting line up was Mel coming on to set instead of  Robyn.  A better start from Worthing lifted their spirits and quickly Sabrina found her groove. Still hitting through four she made an immediate impression with her big hitting and Dolphins knew they were in for a tough day.  The set was pretty even with only a few points difference and the lead swinging between the teams, Dolphins re-cycled what looked like a couple of clear winners with great pick up’s from Tracy and Vicky.  Sintija's mum conducted the musical crowd letting them know when they could and couldn't cheer/rattle/bang and shake and this helped push Worthing on.  At 21-20 up Mel served and kept going to the end of the set!  Jason broke his "golden rule" calling a time out when Worthing were on 24, however even that wasn't enough to distract Mel and Worthing took first blood, winning the first set 25 - 20. 

Dolphins came straight back winning the second set and although Trees came on and battled through the pain barrier to give Dolphins a scare with a late push the consistent setting by Tracey which Paulina and Sophie used well, helped ensure Dolphins stayed on top of the set.  

Trees started the third set, with Brinee being pushed back to her usual middle position.  Dolphins started this set brightly holding a couple of points lead up to 13-11, when Brinee stepped up to serve.  A few power serves had them pushed deep, this was followed by a beautiful short serve that no-one got close to getting hands to!  She had got us back in the game and in front 19-13.  From here Worthing closed out the set 25-19 winners.

How high can Brinee go?
Who's that billy, on his own?

That's the way to block!

The fourth set was a titantic battle with both teams raising their game, Simon for a change not ensconed in a sea of East Grindstead supports struggled to be heard over the epic Worthing crowd. Neither team could build a lead in this set with no one serving more that a couple of points apart from Martina who pushed Dolphins into a 14-9 lead that Worthing couldn’t catch, despite some great Volleyball.

A third five setter between Worthing and Dolphins this season and the second in the last week!  Agata lapped up the pressure of starting the set serving for Trees and gave Devils a 3 point lead, which Dolphins quickly cancelled out with Vicky and Sophie attacking well.  After that Worthing sided out first time every time with Mel using Brinee through the middle to great effect and Chantelle and Em both winning five points on their serves to carry Worthing over the line and win 15 - 6.  Brinee took the MVP after running the show through the outside and middle and owning the net throughout - good work Brinee and loving' the air time in the photo's!

A fantastic response to last weekends match and a great way to end the season as undefeated champions of the Div 3 south league!