Worthing Ladies NVL AGM Awards

After an awesome season that saw our ladies crowned champions of NVL Div2 South it was time for some awards at last night's AGM.

- Chantelle picked up Player of the season.

- Dan picked up some beers and a new "Coach" hoodie.

- The team picked up individual league winners medals and the championship trophy.

- The great support the team have received was recognised with some "super fan" awards!

An awesome season and well done to all players, coach, session coach and supporters!

That's the way we like it!

Worthing ladies volleyball have won NVL Div2 South by beating Bath 3-1. An awesome result with Emma having to replace an injured Brinee and go on to pick up MVP in her first game back! That's back to back promotions as champions for the Worthing ladies volleyball team who only formed last season. Great support today and all season at home and away games from family and friends. Winning the league has been down to the players and people that support them on and off the court including those that played today and throughout the season. Everyone has played a part including those that have missed the second half of the season through injury, but still come along to support their team. Well done to Dan who has been their coach from the start and for Mark who has given up his time to coach them at excellent training sessions all year. Special thanks to Emma who was the driving force to start the NVL journey and it was fitting that she completed her come back to take MVP in her first match back. We all hope Brinee recovers quickly from her injury and good luck in your final match when you can all relax and play as champions. Well done to all. Awesome result and what a season.

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!

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!

New year - Same old Worthing....mammoth 5 setter

It was a disjointed warm up due to Dulwich not being there.  Worthing warmed up as usual not knowing to expect them imminently or if they wouldn't be there at all. Happily they arrived and while all the players were there and on court for the match start time as they weren't in kit and warmed up properly the officials agreed to start the match 20 mins later.  The Worthing team was pretty much the same team that played Dulwich away on the first game of the season (Em, Brinee, Chantelle, Trees, Sintija, Mel and Tracy) with Em and bump sitting this one out and Gem stepping in (thanks Gem and hope Todd didn't miss his feed!) and Tracy being available to play this time rather than being bench personnel. 

Once the match started Worthing came out strong not wanting to give Dulwich a two set lead like last time! Brinee had her serving shoes on or Asic Gel Sensi 5's, as they are otherwise known!  Serving 8 points, mixing her classic power float with a sneaky short to keep the opposition on their toes.  This took Worthing to 11-3 and they never looked liked losing from here.  Gemma got in on the serving action with a nice run of 6 points.  The consistent strong serving from Worthing stopped the middle being opened up by Dulwich and with good first balls in both Mel and Tracy had fun picking their sets and seeing the power hits picking up points. The set finished 25-16.

The second set start the same way, but this time Dulwich rallied early and levelled the scores 6-6 before a spell of strong serving in conjunction with a wobble with Worthing's serve receive saw 6 points dropped in one serve receive 8-16 Dulwich. Chantelle's serving backed by a strong front court of the Farley's gave Worthing a glimmer of hope and when Brinee stuffed blocked a massive hit at 11-16 you could see the spring in Worthing's step was back.  Again the new serving trainers continued to work their magic and Brinee got Worthing 4 points and a little closer 15-17.  Then the cripple stepped up to serve a combination of good serves, and great cover back court from Trees with power hits from Brinee front court and Chantelle mixing clever cuts with rolls into the corner meant that Worthing levelled the scores and then pushed on to take a marginal lead 23-21.  The calm head of Sintija saw the set out with a strong serve into the corner and a shank into the wall meant Worthing won 25-23.

In the third set the teams traded points with either team getting more than two points ahead of the other, both teams stepped up their game and the standard of hitting and cover back court lead to some great rallies.  At 16-18 Dulwich's setter served and with a strong front court they made the points they needed, while Brinee made a great pick up back court covering the tip to four the power hit that followed to five got them the point and the next couple taking Tuskers to 22-16 and in the end the set 25-19.

A strong start from Dulwich/a poor start from Worthing in the fourth again saw the basic communication lapse and the whole team looked nervous on court and not at all like the un-defeated leaders and champions of the five setter that they are!!  For periods they played well with Trees using the angles well and Brinee dominating the net.  Sintija as always made so much noise my throat was sore in sympathy, as well as picking off some big points at stages of the game. Chantelle and Gemma quietly got on with business, covering and blocking well and both Tracy and Mel used the pass in wisely with Tracy picking up points with a cheeky second ball over but in the end Dulwich earnt the set 25-15.

So we entered Worthing's 2014-15 trademark, the lottery of the fifth set!  Dulwich again started well and before Worthing got going it was 2-6 to Dulwich.  At 7-10 down Sintija fires in an ace and on her second serve while the number 2 player tried to avoid it, the ball dipped and caught her full in the face... happily she bounced straight back and was good to carry on! So was Sintija and the next ball went to the same area and brought the score to 11-11 and then it was 13-13! Dulwich won the point and served for the game and a text book pass and set from Brinee and Mel meant all the hard work was done and Trees didn't miss her line putting away a screamer.  Strangely enough the next two sets went her way and so did the final two points! 16-14 Worthing! 

A great result for the first game of the new year and especially as there hasn't been any training for a month or so! A tough first game in a while for Gemma and also for Tracy who's slowly getting back her match fittness after being out for most of the season. It was also good to see Brinee working so hard back court and getting consistent good balls in to the setter and covering the tip to 4!  A massive thank you to the supporters, I don't think we would have got through the fifth set as winners with out you! It was great to see a few of the EG crew as well as Dom, Robyn (their mum) and Katy, along with the regular Latvian's, Farley's and Chantelle's mum and Craig the ever present!

Also a special thanks to Kish, Em, Kathy, Amelia, Nigel and Elise for officiating! 

Devon up next in a couple of weeks!!

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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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!

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!

The National league victories keep rolling in.....just!

The last home games of the season started well with the team arriving early and helping set up the court, with the pleasant surprise of Mel and Nigel being there looking tanned if a little tired after an early flight home from their ski trip.  A quick team photo was taken with the amazing cupcakes from Mia's bakery, when the coach realised he had left the player registration cards at home.  A mad dash across town thanks to Anne(part of team Farley) and we are back just in time!

Cardiff Celts were up first, Worthing started with Robyn and Sintija, Gem and Em, and Chantelle and Amy. Chantelle settled the early nervous with a run of seven serves to give Worthing an early 7-2 lead from there everyone relaxed and played well with good first balls into Robyn.  Gemma owned the net in the first set putting up a good block and winning points with her hits and sneaky short serve.

The second set saw Celts come back stronger and work Worthing harder.  Agata and Brinee came on for Em and Chantelle but the rest of the team stayed the same. Again the power serves caused trouble for Celts especially from Sintija and Sabrina.  Robyn set well and Amy and Sintija especially hit a number of clean winners.

Worthing fielded the same team in the third set although Celts took an early lead and it wasn't until the under arm bullet serves from Amy started raining in that Worthing's heads came up.  Agata and Brinee were front court forcing Celts to roll over their blocks and Worthing recycled well.  Robyn as always looked for any opportunity to hit the second ball over and pulled off a nice hit, between setting well. Worthing won the match 25-12, 25-15 and 25-16.

Time for a quick lunch break and for the team to give Gemma her birthday goodies! Finally we could eat the beautiful cupcakes from http://www.fatcakesdesign.co.uk andthe honey cake which Madara Baldere made - yum!

The crowd grew for the big game Wessex vs Worthing and just when you though it had reached capacity even more people wondered in.  It was a diverse crowd, pretty evenly split between Latvians and Farley's, but they all made plenty of noise!

Worthing started with a strong opening line-up with Trees, Chantelle, Em, Brinee, Sintija and Mel. It was a close opening set with neither team able to open up much of a lead.   Chantelle's serving at 16 - 17 to take us up to 21 was a key run of points that gave Worthing the momentum to close the set strongly with Trees mixing some power hitting and dumps into the hole.

The second set saw the same team start except Agata came on for Brinee.  Wessex sided out too comfortable in this set and Worthing's head's dropped when they struggled getting off the Wessex Captain's service run.  This was compounded by a couple of basic errors serving into the net and rotation faults leading to Wessex winning 25 - 17.

In the third set Worthing went back to their original starting six.  Again Wessex started well getting an early lead of 11-5, Worthing scrapped back and with strong hitting from Sintija and Trees levelled the score 21-21 before Wessex closed the set 25-23.

Worthing started the fourth set slowly and still looked demoralised and unfocused after losing the last set after throwing everything into a spirited come back .  Wessex again started well with strong hitting through both the outside and middle building a lead of 12-6.  Worthing made  a number of silly errors and it was the third rotation fault of the game that caused Chantelle to have a few quiet words with the team and the ref to have a few words with her that really turned the game.  Worthing switched on, Robyn (on for Mel) did well chasing down stray first balls and Sintija and Trees started finding gaps down the line.  Sabrina even pulled out a dive or two to keep the ball alive and give Worthing a chance to turn the game!  Worthing pulled it back to 18-20 down but kept pushing and at 23-23 Sintija stepped up to serve and in her usual cool and calm manner served the game out forcing the fifth set.

The last set started much the same as the previous with both teams playing well but Worthing didn't let Wessex get a lead with the score 8-7 at the change of ends.  Solid serving from Robyn with three attackers front court took Worthing to 13-7 and it was at this point Brinee decided she wanted to finish this game.  Trees might have called for the ball but Brinee stole it and put away a screamer, Wessex over passed the next ball and Brinee's eye's lit up and BOOOOM another clean winner.  Worthing finished strong to win the last set 9-15....Phew!

This was by far the toughest match Worthing have played this season,against a really good opposition. The game could have gone either way and both teams played well dominating for periods.  MVP's went to Sintija in both games .

Just one more weekend of National League Volleyball to go this season with a win needed to guarantee automatic promotion to Div2 - Come on Worthing!   

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.

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.

Worthing Ladies NVL Maintain Undefeated Season

Awesome weekend for Worthing Ladies National League team as they beat Wessex Leaf and Dolphins 3-1. Great support from family and friends and good all round performance.

A Great Weekend for Worthing

Well done to the ladies for winning both National League matches 3-0 and 3-1. They remain undefeated in their first season 😀

The Sharks played against East Grinstead 2 without many of their regulars and both Dom and Matt stepped in to help Kishan, Iain, Ebber and Ben. Despite a great effort they eventually lost 3-1 with Iain securing MVP and a great performance from Ben who must have pushed him close for the decision.

Last match of the evening saw he Vipers take on a confident a Eastbourne who arrived with the only remaining 100% record in Div 1. The Vipers were without Mark and Jimmy, but welcomed back Nigel and Turbo. The Vipers started set 1 very strongly playing some of their best volleyball this season securing a convincing first set with relative ease. Eastbourne started to play better in the second set, but some good blocking from Andrew Crockett and hitting from Mickey saw the secure a much closer set. Into the third set and it was a close and intense end to the game. The vipers closed the match out 3-0 and highlights include some great pick ups from Turbo, a sweet middle from Andrew and great blocks.

The win opens up the league that see's Vipers, Arun, Eastbourne and Brighton Arun all having lost one match!

Worthing vs The City of Bristol and Team Southampton

Match day two for Worthing Volleyball Club in the National League saw a depleted squad travel to Southampton, to play City of Bristol and Southampton Volleyball club.  Amy, Gemma and Agata were missing leaving Trees, Em, Sabrina, Chantelle and Sintija to man up and play all of both games with Robyn and Mel sharing the setting.  Luckily Em insisted on leaving 3 hours before the warm up as Sintija sent them on a long scenic tour of Southampton twice!

Up first were City of Bristol, Worthing started brightly with good movement back court and a nice first ball in.  Giving Robyn the option to use Sintija through opposite and open up the middle for some big hits from Em and Sabrina.  They closed the first set as comfortable winners 25-10.

Set two saw Mel come on for Robyn.  Bristol started better and were very effective recycling the ball and keeping the rally alive.  Worthing though had taken their foot off the gas making a number of serving errors and a bad first ball in was dragging Mel all over the court.  Em's serving and leadership helped pull it back to 17-17 but again Bristol edged ahead and even a tasty stuff block by Sintija couldn't turn the momentum back in Worthing's favour.

The final two sets saw Worthing win 25-12 and 25-13 with strong serving and hitting all round.  It must have been a tough call to pick an MVP but Sintija was the chosen one.

Who said Brinee couldn't jump?!

A.C.E 

BOOM!

The roof is on FIRE!

Southampton laid on a good lunch with the pizza disappearing fast and nice cupcakes (although not as tasty as the ginger cake from last week). Game two saw Worthing take on Southampton who had beaten Bristol 3-0 in the middle match.

A tight first set saw us trading points early on with Southampton slowly edging in front to be leading 22 - 17 when Chantelle stepped up to serve the game out 22 - 25.

More impressive serving this time from Sabrina gave WVC a strong start and they were leading 8 - 2 after her serve run of 6 points mixing her powerful float with a cheeky short serve.  Sintija and Em helped Brinee out with some big blocks and intelligent hitting front court and the cry of "the roof is on fire" was ringing throughout the hall accompanied by Craig setting the beat on his makeshift drum!  They ended the set 25-13 winners.

The final set had Worthing starting slowly giving control of the set to Southampton, but good back court positioning and Robyn making a game changing pick up that Southampton were already celebrating changed the momentum of the game and Worthing close out the game 3-0 winners.  Consistent hitting along with good movement back court meant Trees took the second MVP of the day.

Thanks to the travelling supporters including Em's folks and Chantelle, Caz and Craig, Mark and Zack and our team statistician Damo.