Jets beat EG and Vipers Struggle To Win 3-2 Against Eastbourne

Vipers played Eastbourne at the High School on Sunday after the Jets beat East Grinstead with a very strong 3-0 performance.

The Jets had a full squad for the first time in months with Luis back from his travels. They started with Magic opposite and Matt through the outside after his strong performance there against the Vipers last week (well for the first set anyway!). A much improved first pass meant Martin was able to open up the middle and Josh took full advantage with one of his best performances this season so far. Ninah continues to improve through the middle and is starting to nail a few blocks and quick attacks. A solid block and hitting through opposite from Magic, mobile coverage back court from Dan and the strong outside hitting options from Marlon and Luis mean the Jets have options and when they pull together are a force to be reckoned with.

Strong serving and varied attacks orchestrated by Martin meant the Jets never looked in danger of losing a set and they finished 3-0 winners. Retaining their first division status last season was the first time any "second" team has managed to stay in the top tier of Sussex volleyball and this win should assure first Division status for next season so they can now relax and see how far up the table they can finish. 

The Vipers game moved to a friendly as Eastbourne could only manage to bring 5 players and consequently they really struggled to find the motivation to take the game seriously. Josh helped out Eastbourne who started strongly taking an early lead which they never looked in danger of losing. The first and second sets went to Eastbourne against a very flat and lack lustre Vipers team who looked like they would rather be down the pub!

Strong words from the coach and determined efforts from their setter saw them sneak the third set before they gradually started to wake up! A close fourth set went to the Vipers before they finally moved through the gears to secure a relatively easy final set win.

A good performance from Eastbourne and especially Josh who showed the Vipers no mercy! Good character from the Vipers after a very poor start, but five sets can only help new Viper Derek find his range through the outside and settle in to the service receive.

Thanks to all who stayed to officiate and play on a night where some had travelled to and from Manchester.

Angels Secure 3-0 Win

Angels traveled to East Grinstead to play their second team with the help of Trees and Mel. A good start from the Angels saw them take a 10-6 lead before a fire alarm resulted in a long delay and a chance for the girls to check out the local firemen!
The delay suited East Grinstead who restarted stronger than the Angels who struggled to get going, however a strong serving run from Amy saw then take control and win the first set.
The second set saw both teams trade points with neither team able to build a lead until the end of the set when the Angels edged ahead to make it 2-0. It was good to see the Angels win a tight set and the turning point was a long rally that saw Tanya make the recovery of the match when it looked like they were going to lose a very keenly contested point.
East Grinstead have a young team, but show improvement each time we see them and should eventually turn in to a very good team if they stick together and keep developing. Serving was always a struggle for the younger EG players, but by the third set they were  starting to play with more composure and the Angels had to work hard in back court to pick up their hits and dumps.
This set went to the wire with Angels again managing to hold their nerve to win 3-0. Special thanks to Mel and Trees who helped us out after a marathon weekend of volleyball.
This was a good performance from the Angels with strong hitting and back court coverage from Katie, great serving and variety of hits from Amy, some good blocking from Tanya and middle hitting from Aly.
Birthday girl Aly got the MVP vote from EG and all returned to Worthing with our first win in a while!

Angels play Teela

Angels travelled away to play Teela without Tanya and Sylwia so were pleased to welcome Joey and Trees to help us out.

A slow start in the first set as everyone got used to playing with each other, but a late rally saw them narrowly lose to 23 points. Great court coverage from Joey, an improving first pass and good serving saw the Angels remain competitive in a close second set that went to their experienced opponents.

Despite a run of losses against strong opposition the Angels continue to play with great team spirit, but Teela ran out 3-0 winners. Some great blocking and finding the corners with her hits saw Aly pick up MVP and the afternoon ended with cakes from Katie! Four games in two weeks and the Angels are looking forward to a break and a chance to regroup before their next game away to East Grinstead on the 2nd of Feb.

To see how the Angels are improving take a look at the latest video highlights from their match against Eastbourne http://youtu.be/4BE0GeA6PjQ

Angels out score Eastbourne, but lose 3-1

Angels headed to Eastbourne on a stormy night on the back of two tough games against Dolphins hoping to turn good performances in to a win.

The first set was tight with the Angels building an early lead only to let it slip when things got close at the business end of the set. The second set followed a similar format despite the Angels still not hitting their best form and again they lost by a couple of points. The third set started and all of a sudden the Angels lifted their performance with improved calling, better serving and lots more noise. The best set of the season so far saw them take it 25-10. Eastbourne responded well in the fourth set and again, with things tight, the Angels went quiet and started to lose focus resulting in a 3-1 loss. Over the four sets the Angels scored more points and just need to forget the score and play the same great volleyball through out the set and the wins will start to come.

Katie secured her second MVP in a row, but there were more than a few other strong candidates.

Dolphins against Angels Part2

The same Angels team faced Dolphins for the second time in a week, but this time played much better and nearly took a set.

Having played earlier in the week and being helped out by Sandrine again they started well with more teamwork from the start. The first set ended 16-25 and the Angels carried their improved confidence in to the second set. Good court coverage and an improved first pass enabled Sandrine to spread the set and all of a sudden Dolphins were under pressure. They were not helped be the odd rotation errors, but some great rallies and team spirit could not beat a more experienced Dolphins team and a close set ended 24-26.

Another good team performance in the third was not enough to prevent Dolphins winning the set 15-25.

Better discipline, an improved first pass, great teamwork, strong blocking and great hitting from an improving Angels team resulted in a very good performance which they now need to repeat on Wednesday when the are away to Eastbourne.

Katie picked up MVP.

Angels play Dolphins1

The Angels started the new year with a tough away fixture against Dolphins1 without the steadying on court influence of Emma who moved to the sidelines in a coaching role.

The Angels struggled to get going in the first set as the Dolphins built up a big lead. Once they started to relax, get a good pass in to the setter and put Dolphins under some kind of pressure the points started to come and they managed to score 16 points.

The second set again started very poorly, but things did not improve and the set was lost with very little fight.

In the third set things improved and with much better court coverage, calling and improved team work they reached 15 points before the much more experienced Dolphins closed out a 3-0 victory.

A chance to improve things and carry forward some momentum on Sunday when they host Dolphins again at the High school.

MVP went to Sylwia in her new team shirt!

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!!