epic 5 setter!

The last National League weekend for 2014 and for a change Worthing were at home against Devon and Reading. Unfortunately the Devon game was cancelled as they had a number of players at South West training.

Mel was missing, lapping up the sun shine in Thailand and with the trio of pregnant/new mums out we were down to Cait and Brinee through the middle, Chantelle and Trees outside and Sintija and Paulina opposite and setter.  The good new was Tracy's shoulder was on the mend and she was able to play giving us options and cover and we had a great crowd making plenty of noise...would you expect anything else with Latvians, Craig and Em all in the mix! 

The first set started well with the team's trading points and for a change Worthing started brightly with Cait making a big stuff block and Trees mixing dumps into the hole and a couple of big hits. Although the cover started a little slow it picked up as the set went on and the energy was high on court with Paulina mixing the sets well, utilising all the options and linking with Brinee to run a quick attack through the middle.  Strong serving from Brinee at 9-9 gave Worthing a lead of 5 points and with good balls in and strong attacks Worthing sided out first time consecutively 5 times to go 21-15 up.  A lapse in concentration let Reading back into the game and they were serving at 22-24 when they served into the net following a time out to give Worthing the lead.

Set two started with the same 6 starting for Worthing.  Reading started strong with a good serve from their number 8 causing issues with the experienced Worthing serve receive.  A change in receive personnel and a time out didn't help but a cheeky second ball over from Paulina disrupted Readings rhythm and although it was scrambled back it was a free ball and Sintija put a screamer down the line that Reading couldn't touch, bringing the score to 3-7.  Reading were playing well hitting the line through opposite and their libero was picking up hits Worthing were celebrating taking them to 13-7. Tree's consistent serving picked up 6 points to bring Worthing back into the game, helped by a strong front court of Brinee, Sintija and Chantelle to take it to 14-12. Points were again traded until at 19-21 up Chantelle hot two clean winners down the line to give Worthing the momentum to finish 25-19!

In the third set Tracy came on for Paulina making her debut for Worthing.  A good start gave Worthing a 4-2 lead but again got stuck on a service rotation and letting Reading go 4-8 up and heads dropped.  Reading stepped up their game hitting and serving well stray first balls and a lack of communication meant Tracy was being dragged all over the court and at 9-20 it was looking very flat on court. A late rally inspired by Tracy getting a clean second all over into the hole and setting intelligently saw Worthing get 9 points to Readings 5 and go into the fourth set keen to finish the game.

The set started well with Tracy finding Chantelle and Sintija and getting a nice run of points. The number 7 serve from Reading again caused problems, earning 8points and with the first ball again deteriorating Paulina came on to set at 6-11. A spirited fight back saw Worthing closing the gap all the time and got to 18-18 when again the number 7 picked up 4 points and while every point was chased down the set finished 23-25.

Set 5 this years speciality and Worthing were keen to start well with lots of noise from the crowd and everyone wanting to get on court and finish strong. Unfortunately so were Reading and with the number 7 serving well and 10 hitting line through opposite reading were 4-0 up a time out broke that serve but Reading had the momentum and were 8-2 up at the change of ends. When they picked up a yellow for time wasting as they stopped for drinks. Worthing kept scrapping for points and again Cait pulled off a stuff block though middle but at 14-9 things were not looking good! Happily Chantelle was serving who has saved the team a number of times keeping her head under pressure and brought us back to 14-13 when Reading asked for a time out having already had two that set. A red card gave Worthing a point and it was now a battle of wills after two hours of volleyball who would break first? Reading came straight back with a big hit but served out, this happened three times 17-17 but Worthing couldn't capitalise on the mistakes. 18-17 to Reading and it looked all over a big hit between the block Sintija couldn't make it and Chantelle missed it! But it landed on her foot! Sintija dived to retrieve the ball bashing her head and seeing stars but got it up and the ball was put away to level the scores again! Paulina set out to Trees at 2 who killed it and needing one point the ball this time went to Brinee who did the same! 21-19 and another five setter lasting over 2 hours!

MVP Chantelle, but everyone played out of their skins!  Best post match tea yet topped off by an amazing cake! 

A big thank you to the supporters and even more so to Kish, Matt and Alessandra for officiating!

Sharks 2014/15

The Sharks are the Mens third Team playing in Division two, they have a number of players new to volleyball this year and a few more experienced players (mainly poached from rival teams EG and Brighton!)!  All of them are characters on and off the court!

Back Row: Jin, Dominic, Eber, Vlad (the barbarian)

Front Row: Kish, (Sandrine the Coach), Mark, Tim (Captain)

Angels continue to improve.

Angels welcomed high flying Crawley to the High school for the return league match. Angels started poorly playing with out confidence and struggled to get started in the first set. Strong words from the coach and all of a sudden the Angels started to call for the ball and generate some momentum. Good blocking from Tanya through the middle, better hitting and improved back court coverage and all of a sudden Crawley were struggling. Great team spirit saw the Angels take Crawley to the wire, but experience saw them through to take the second set. Angels played well in the third set, but Crawley's experience and strong middle resulted in a 3-0 win for them, but Angels did not disgrace themselves and continue to improve with every game. Tanya picked up MVP for the Angels and they have one match let against Demons.

The very first SHARKS match report! By Dominic

Almost a whole season has passed without a specific match report for the Sharks. However Sunday was significant as there was a whole squad, including a substitute, and a coach! Sharks were at home to Brighton Freedom, who were third in the league. (but with games in hand to go top -ed)

Sharks started with Captain Tim setting, Mark opposite, Dominic & Eber through the middle and Kishan and Jin on the outside. Sharks started well and pushed Brighton all the way through the first set however, when it got to 20 all, Brighton managed to open a small gap to get the first set. At this point Vlad remembered there was a game on and appeared in time to play though 4 for parts of the second & third sets!

Sharks managed to put some good sequences of play together with strong blocking at the net. Brighton managed to pick out some of the gaps in back court and create enough of a gap to win 3-0. Sharks have one more game this seasons to try and finish sixth in the league. Hopefully the team will be able to stay together and build on this year's experience  to finish nearer the top next season.

Vipers beat Scorpions to keep pressure on Crawley

Vipers played Scorpions for the second week in a row with the same 3-0 result to keep the pressure on Crawley who remain favourites to win the league. Vipers have just Crawley and Brighton Jag's to play, but wins against both teams would result in the committee having to get calculators out to see who wins on sets difference! It was a good performance against scorpions who battled hard against a very determined Vipers team. Damo picked up MVP with strong hitting including some combination attacks which saw Scorpions struggle to determine where the hits were coming from. Next game is at home on Easter Sunday against favourites Crawley, but you just never know what might happen is the Vipers can get out a full squad!

Worthing Club AGM

Hello, So we are in the final few weeks of the season….five weeks and 12 fixtures to go across all 6 local league teams and just the two games National League! We are now starting to make a few arrangements for the AGM, the details are below… Annual General Meeting We will be holding the Worthing Volleyball Club AGM on Tuesday 28th April . It will follow the format of previous years. Venue - John Selden pub, Half Moon Lane, BN13 2HN 19:30 - Meet in the bar for a drink 20:00 - There will be a choice of two curries (which is free for all paid up members or an alternative for those that aren't keen on curry) 20:30/21:00 - The AGM will be held, were we report on this year and consider arrangements for next year (League entries, subscriptions etc.) The meeting will include various awards for the year, some serious and some just for fun. The agenda is below, if you would like to cover any additional topics please let me know. Agenda Chairman's Address Secretaries Report Treasurers Report League Entries Election of Officers Membership fees Summer arrangements AOB Awards To help ensure we order enough food and can start thinking about next year can you let me know 1) Whether or not you will be attending the AGM 2) Would you like a curry or alternative 3) Currently are you planning on playing in the indoor league next season (September 2015 - April 2016) Communications The hits and interaction via the Facebook page have been good this year and most teams use either Facebook messager groups or Whatsapp to organise, which seems to be working well alongside the website and Teamer. Following feedback last year we introduced the monthly email update. Can you let me know if you've found it useful, if there is anything else that should be included or if there is too much already (I do tend tmble on), If anyone has any suggestions for improving our communications or any any other aspects of the Club please let me know.

Results Update

A quick update on Sunday's games as follows:-

Jets missed Dan's organisational skills and managed to turn up late for their match against Brighton Jags and with the home team applying the letter of the law they started the game 2-0 down! A good performance without a warm up saw them get to 17 points before losing 3-0. MVP was Matt Lay.

Angels played Demons with a new setter and a spirited performance saw them score at least 18 points in each set. They are improving with every match and now have enough players to mix things up despite missing both Emma and Amy.

Vipers played a scratch Storrington team who battled hard, but finally a closed out a tighter third set to take the game 3-0 and move ever closer to the final two games of the season against Crawley and Brighton Jaguars which will decide a very close season. Crawley remain firm favourites for the title having only lost one match (to the Jets) and Brighton Jag's have only lost two games (both against Crawley), but Vipers have to play them both. Wins for the Vipers against Storrington, Crawley and Brighton Jag's would mean getting out the calculators to see who would win on sets difference etc, but there is a long way to go before we need to worry about that!

Worthing ladies NVL team won one and lost one at the weekend, but winning the league is still in their own hands and they just need to win the last two games to secure back to back championships and promotions! Keep an eye on our Facebook site for match reports from Dan.

If anyone wants to provide more details on any of these games or indeed any others before the end of the season you only need to email ,me the report and any pictures and I will get them loaded!