We went down to Odense on Saturday for our third match of the season against Marienlyst. We knew what to expect from Marienlyst going into the match, but I was unsure what our side would look like. We were short-handed, and only had nine people fit for the match, with me (finger), Tue (knee) and Joakim (alarm clock) unavailable for various reasons. As I had mentioned in my previous post, we needed to do something good away from home to get some positive momentum going for the final third of the season.
The match started off well for us. Marienlyst was playing with some people in different positions and some new starters on the floor, and we were able to take advantage of that and lots of mistakes on their part in the first set, which we won 25-21.
The second set started off well for us, with a 6-1 lead before Marienlyst called their first time out. They had their best team out on the floor at that point, and they slowly chipped away at our lead, scoring a point or two off their own serve each time they sided out. They tied it up at 15 apiece, and from there went on a 10-3 run to finish us off 18-25.
The third and fourth sets went the same way as the rest of the second set. Their setter gave us a lot of trouble off his serve and we couldn't get much going off our own. At the beginning of the fourth set we missed four of the six serves in the first rotation. The third and fourth sets ended up easily in their favor, 15-25 and 17-25.
It's unfortunate we weren't able to take advantage of the big lead we had in the second set. It was interesting to see how the moment we let up with a couple bad plays and mental errors, Marienlyst was able to jump on it and take control of the set. They are usually a team that celebrates pretty loudly, and they had been relatively quiet for most of the match, quieter than us in fact, but the moment our volume and intensity dropped, theirs rose. Maybe that contributed to the fact that they just overwhelmed us the last two sets, but I'm sure it was more than that. If we had been able to play error-free like we did in the first set, I think it would have been a closer game, because by no means were Marienlyst playing as well as they had the last two times we played them at home.
At any rate, we have to put that match out of our minds now and turn our attention to our weekday game Thursday against Arhus. In what is arguably our most important match of the season thus far, we need a win to close the four point gap between us. Tomorrow is also a big day for me, as I have my checkup with the doctor, so hopefully I get the good news that I can play Thursday.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Games v Gentofte and Middelfart
Last Saturday we went down to Copenhagen to play Gentofte. We had beaten them in 5 the last time we met, in what was a home match for us. I figured the reverse fixture to be more difficult because of our poor form away from home of late, but I still thought we could beat them if we played some solid volleyball.
The first set was tight the whole way, with several lead changes throughout. We got a lot of our points off tough serves that led to overpass kills by our front line, and the final score ended up in our favor, 26-24.
We dropped the second set 22-25, but a late run of points in that set gave us some momentum to begin the next. We took advantage and in the third set lead for nearly the whole time, including a 24-19 lead. Several consecutive errors on our part let them back into the set, which we ended up dropping 29-31.
The complete collapse in the third set gave all the momentum back to Gentofte, and we trailed early in the fourth. However, we strung together a few runs of points from our own serve and got some good blocks to bring things level at around 15. I made a comment that this was what had happened last time we played Gentofte, so things were still looking good for us in my mind. However, Gentofte settled down and took control, winning the fourth easily, 20-25.
I think we have to feel this is a match we could have won. We did a good job of getting touches on the block and digging balls on defense, but in the end we couldn't put balls away in transition, which ultimately cost us a lot of potential points on our own serve. Failing to put those balls away allowed Gentofte to stay in the match, and give them credit for taking advantage of their opportunities.
The following Tuesday night we headed down to Middelfart for a make-up match that originally was scheduled during the Olympic volleyball qualifiers for Denmark. Middelfart was fresh off a win over Marienlyst (that few likely saw coming), so they had been playing some good volleyball lately without a doubt.
They ended up beating us in three, 18-25, 20-25, and 20-25. There were points in each set where the score was close, but ultimately Middelfart would pull away. The biggest problem for us was that there was at least one instance in each set where Middelfart went on a run of five or more points; in the third set they scored nine in a row.
I'd be interested to see the blocking statistics from this game, because that is definitely how they scored so many consecutive points. From my thinking back on the match, I would say they got around 15, though I wouldn't be surprised if it was higher. On our side of the net, our passing was pretty good for the match, but we didn't get much going in the middle, which I think is our best advantage over Middelfart. That led to a lot of two-man blocks on the outside and points for the opposition.
With two frustrating losses (for very different reasons) in a row, we have eleven days to prepare for an away game at Marienlyst (who is playing in the pokalfinal against Middelfart Sunday). I think it will be an important match for many reasons, perhaps most of all because we need to turn in a convincing performance away from home after three poor away matches (counting back to Hvidovre).
The last two matches have been difficult for me to watch, because I feel like I could make a difference if I was able to play. I can move my finger (nearly) into a fist without pain, but it still hurts like hell if anything moves it sideways or even if it gets jostled too much. High fives from Jonas don't feel too great either... I'm hoping to be ready for our home match against Århus, so keep your fingers crossed and we will see what the doctor says next Monday.
The first set was tight the whole way, with several lead changes throughout. We got a lot of our points off tough serves that led to overpass kills by our front line, and the final score ended up in our favor, 26-24.
We dropped the second set 22-25, but a late run of points in that set gave us some momentum to begin the next. We took advantage and in the third set lead for nearly the whole time, including a 24-19 lead. Several consecutive errors on our part let them back into the set, which we ended up dropping 29-31.
The complete collapse in the third set gave all the momentum back to Gentofte, and we trailed early in the fourth. However, we strung together a few runs of points from our own serve and got some good blocks to bring things level at around 15. I made a comment that this was what had happened last time we played Gentofte, so things were still looking good for us in my mind. However, Gentofte settled down and took control, winning the fourth easily, 20-25.
I think we have to feel this is a match we could have won. We did a good job of getting touches on the block and digging balls on defense, but in the end we couldn't put balls away in transition, which ultimately cost us a lot of potential points on our own serve. Failing to put those balls away allowed Gentofte to stay in the match, and give them credit for taking advantage of their opportunities.
The following Tuesday night we headed down to Middelfart for a make-up match that originally was scheduled during the Olympic volleyball qualifiers for Denmark. Middelfart was fresh off a win over Marienlyst (that few likely saw coming), so they had been playing some good volleyball lately without a doubt.
They ended up beating us in three, 18-25, 20-25, and 20-25. There were points in each set where the score was close, but ultimately Middelfart would pull away. The biggest problem for us was that there was at least one instance in each set where Middelfart went on a run of five or more points; in the third set they scored nine in a row.
I'd be interested to see the blocking statistics from this game, because that is definitely how they scored so many consecutive points. From my thinking back on the match, I would say they got around 15, though I wouldn't be surprised if it was higher. On our side of the net, our passing was pretty good for the match, but we didn't get much going in the middle, which I think is our best advantage over Middelfart. That led to a lot of two-man blocks on the outside and points for the opposition.
With two frustrating losses (for very different reasons) in a row, we have eleven days to prepare for an away game at Marienlyst (who is playing in the pokalfinal against Middelfart Sunday). I think it will be an important match for many reasons, perhaps most of all because we need to turn in a convincing performance away from home after three poor away matches (counting back to Hvidovre).
The last two matches have been difficult for me to watch, because I feel like I could make a difference if I was able to play. I can move my finger (nearly) into a fist without pain, but it still hurts like hell if anything moves it sideways or even if it gets jostled too much. High fives from Jonas don't feel too great either... I'm hoping to be ready for our home match against Århus, so keep your fingers crossed and we will see what the doctor says next Monday.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Best Possible News
After preparing myself to have surgery Monday morning, I showed up to the hospital and the hand specialist/surgeon said that I was not going to have it after all. According to her, there are two small, hard bones on the big knuckle on the palm-side of each of your fingers. When my finger broke, one of those small bones came apart from the finger (which would have been the chunk of bone I saw in the x-ray). If she were to go in and perform surgery, it would cause significant damage to the ligaments and tendons of the finger, so it turns out the best solution is to let the finger heal naturally.
I have a splint over the top of my finger that prevents me from bending it backwards or sideways at all. Every two hours I am supposed to try to make a fist and bend my pinky forward as much as I can. Right now there isn't much movement because it is still really swollen, but she says I should start seeing some progress soon. I have to wear the splint for three weeks, and I'll go see her again in two weeks to have a checkup. I'm happy to not have had the surgery, and things ended up working out as best they could, all things considered. I've started drinking lots of milk and taking more vitamins to help it heal, and I'm open to suggestions, so if you know any miracle bone-growth home remedies feel free to leave some comments...
I have a splint over the top of my finger that prevents me from bending it backwards or sideways at all. Every two hours I am supposed to try to make a fist and bend my pinky forward as much as I can. Right now there isn't much movement because it is still really swollen, but she says I should start seeing some progress soon. I have to wear the splint for three weeks, and I'll go see her again in two weeks to have a checkup. I'm happy to not have had the surgery, and things ended up working out as best they could, all things considered. I've started drinking lots of milk and taking more vitamins to help it heal, and I'm open to suggestions, so if you know any miracle bone-growth home remedies feel free to leave some comments...
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Bad News
I had a good Christmas break, visiting Spain and France with friends from home. However, during warm ups in the second practice back (Friday) while playing defense in pepper, a ball hit at my chest put my left pinky finger sideways at about a 45 degree angle. I had Morten put it back into place and iced it and put it into a splint. A day of rest saw no improvement however, so today I went to the hospital to have a doctor look at it and take some x-rays. The x-rays showed a sizeable chunk of bone floating near my big knuckle and the doctor says I need to have surgery Monday, and I will be out at least four weeks.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Game v ASV
We had a home game against ASV Sunday, and going into the match I had no idea what to expect from ourselves or ASV. We had a poor game against Hvidovre a week before, and training was up and down for us in the days leading up to the game.
The first several points of the first set went well, but then all of a sudden it felt like the match we played a week ago. Balls dropping on defense, poor communication, poor reception, and mental errors all around. In a flash we were in a 5 or 6 point hole, and I think the general feeling among the team was "not again." The coaches tried to mix things up and changed Morten and I after our second timeout, with ASV leading about 14-20. Things didn't get much better as ASV ended up getting an easy win, 18-25.
Morten stayed in for the second set, and our team pulled it together and played like a completely different side than the one in the first. Dennis was able to get his jump serve going and we started off with an early lead of 3 or 4 points. Fleming and Morten Smith were able to get some blocks on their middle, who had been troubling us in the first set, and we backed that up with some great digs from Jonas and scrappy defensive play from everyone. ASV closed the gap a few times but were never in front as we played some solid volleyball from start to finish. Tue came in for Niels midway through the set and gave us some stable passing and good attacking on the outside. The only negative in the set was a broken play where Fleming and Kesse both went up for the ball and Kesse came down on Fleming's ankle. The physiotherapist says it's a sprain, and hopefully it will heal by the time we come back from our break. Joakim came in for Kesse to finish the set, which we won comfortably, 25-18.
The third set started off well again, with Morten getting a couple aces and ASV having some reception troubles early. We had a quick 5-1 lead and we sided out well enough to keep it for nearly the entire set. Our passing settled down for the most part and Morten was able to have 3 options most of the time out of reception. Niels had switched over to opposite for this set and he got us quite a few points off his serve, which helped to secure the win for us in the third, 25-21.
The fourth set continued in the same manner as the second and third. Some good service pressure saw us jump out to a 3-4 point lead as ASV was forced to go to the outsides and backrow, which led to a lot of hitting errors on their part. Our consistent siding out kept a comfortable gap between the two teams as Tue continued to put nearly every ball away on the outside. Søvsø, the backup opposite, was subbed in at match point and ended up blocking the outside from ASV to give us the win, 25-18.
That this was a good win for us would be an understatement. After a bad loss last week, we needed something positive to take us into the winter break and help us get out of the funk we had been in. It was a great team game, with everyone making a contribution on the court. I think the reason the first set was so bad is that we were playing as a bunch of individuals, with no cohesion or unity in our movements. The transformation of our team from the first serve, that saw 6 people on the court, to the last play of the match, where 11 teammates were working together and contributing to a victory, was great to see. As a team, pulling yourself out of a hole, especially in the middle of a match, can be a turning point in a season. I'm not suggesting we're going to run the table the rest of the way, but maybe it gives us a bit more confidence or focus that eventually changes the outcome of some match down the road.
As a result of the win, we now sit in 4th place in the league table, consistent with our goal of finishing top 4 for the season. We can look back on the first half of the season and see a few missed opportunities, but overall we have to be happy that we have done some good things and made improvements week to week. Our next match is January 12th against Gentofte, so it will be a while until my next volley update. Glædelig jul og godt nytår.
The first several points of the first set went well, but then all of a sudden it felt like the match we played a week ago. Balls dropping on defense, poor communication, poor reception, and mental errors all around. In a flash we were in a 5 or 6 point hole, and I think the general feeling among the team was "not again." The coaches tried to mix things up and changed Morten and I after our second timeout, with ASV leading about 14-20. Things didn't get much better as ASV ended up getting an easy win, 18-25.
Morten stayed in for the second set, and our team pulled it together and played like a completely different side than the one in the first. Dennis was able to get his jump serve going and we started off with an early lead of 3 or 4 points. Fleming and Morten Smith were able to get some blocks on their middle, who had been troubling us in the first set, and we backed that up with some great digs from Jonas and scrappy defensive play from everyone. ASV closed the gap a few times but were never in front as we played some solid volleyball from start to finish. Tue came in for Niels midway through the set and gave us some stable passing and good attacking on the outside. The only negative in the set was a broken play where Fleming and Kesse both went up for the ball and Kesse came down on Fleming's ankle. The physiotherapist says it's a sprain, and hopefully it will heal by the time we come back from our break. Joakim came in for Kesse to finish the set, which we won comfortably, 25-18.
The third set started off well again, with Morten getting a couple aces and ASV having some reception troubles early. We had a quick 5-1 lead and we sided out well enough to keep it for nearly the entire set. Our passing settled down for the most part and Morten was able to have 3 options most of the time out of reception. Niels had switched over to opposite for this set and he got us quite a few points off his serve, which helped to secure the win for us in the third, 25-21.
The fourth set continued in the same manner as the second and third. Some good service pressure saw us jump out to a 3-4 point lead as ASV was forced to go to the outsides and backrow, which led to a lot of hitting errors on their part. Our consistent siding out kept a comfortable gap between the two teams as Tue continued to put nearly every ball away on the outside. Søvsø, the backup opposite, was subbed in at match point and ended up blocking the outside from ASV to give us the win, 25-18.
That this was a good win for us would be an understatement. After a bad loss last week, we needed something positive to take us into the winter break and help us get out of the funk we had been in. It was a great team game, with everyone making a contribution on the court. I think the reason the first set was so bad is that we were playing as a bunch of individuals, with no cohesion or unity in our movements. The transformation of our team from the first serve, that saw 6 people on the court, to the last play of the match, where 11 teammates were working together and contributing to a victory, was great to see. As a team, pulling yourself out of a hole, especially in the middle of a match, can be a turning point in a season. I'm not suggesting we're going to run the table the rest of the way, but maybe it gives us a bit more confidence or focus that eventually changes the outcome of some match down the road.
As a result of the win, we now sit in 4th place in the league table, consistent with our goal of finishing top 4 for the season. We can look back on the first half of the season and see a few missed opportunities, but overall we have to be happy that we have done some good things and made improvements week to week. Our next match is January 12th against Gentofte, so it will be a while until my next volley update. Glædelig jul og godt nytår.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Game v Hvidovre
We went down to Copenhagen Sunday, leaving from Aalborg at 7am, and getting in around 1. It is a long and boring ride, but I managed to sleep for most of it. The team wandered around the complex (home to the international powerhouse that is Danish curling!) where the game was being held and waited for our 3 o'clock gametime.
The previous game against Hvidovre we killed them, scoring a ton of points off our serves and rolling to an easy victory. Their form had been good at home, however, as they had taken a set off Marienlyst recently. The also had some new players, including a new setter who seemed more experienced than the previous one. I felt good going into the game; I didn't expect it to be easy, their result against Marienlyst suggested as much, but I did think we would win if we could play as well as we did against Marienlyst three weeks before.
The first play of the game, I set back to Dennis, who waffled the ball, but still got the kill, with the ball landing just inside the back line. That would turn out to be one of the few times in the match luck was on our side. Our passing was shaky from the start, and I had trouble getting the middle going early. Like I've said before, if you can't get the middle going early, it's hard to come back to it later because the other team will be camping out on it anytime you get a decent pass. Hvidovre also blocked well in the first set, allowing them to score a lot of points off their own serve. They ended up cruising to a win, 16-25.
The second set had more of the same, unfortunately, with poor passing and little rhythm in our offense, and some good play by Hvidovre. Dennis and Joakim were switched, but we continued to miss a lot of serves and not put a lot of pressure on them early in the set. However, as it progressed we improved and I was able to get Morten some balls in the middle and I felt more in sync with the hitters. We managed to close the gap a bit, but we had given up too many points in the beginning and ended up losing, 21-25.
The third set saw us finally beginning to play some real volleyball. The errors were reduced (but still not eliminated) on our side, and we were able to get some float serves on their libero, who had trouble with them and thus gave their setter fewer options. They had been running the middle pretty well all day, and forcing them to the outsides definitely helped us win the set. We were down late in the set, 22-24, with me serving and Hvidovre having match ball. Joakim was subbed in and came up with a big block to make it 23-24, and Dennis and Fleming got another to tie it up. Two plays later, we dug a transition ball and I set back to Dennnis who killed it to win the set for us 26-24.
After winning the 3rd we had all the momentum in the match, and Hvidovre looked on their heels, but we couldn't take advantage of it at all. Early in the 4th we were down by 5 or 6 points, and all the momentum we had was lost. However, we were able to run off several points on our own serve a couple times and we created energy to get back into the set with some great kills and blocks by Niels, who had switched to opposite. As our coach pointed out, they didn't look comfortable in close situations at the end of the match, as evidenced by their two missed serves at the end of the 4th when they had match ball. Two questionable calls by the referees (more on them later), including the ball that would have won us the set, put Hvidovre in a position to win the match again, at 25-26. A hitting error on the last play ended up giving a victory to them and was a fitting end to the day for us.
Not to make any excuses, but the referees made decisions that changed the course of the game. We were having trouble with our new jerseys, which kept coming untucked and hitting the net, but there were at least three phantom net calls against us. The first was on me on a block I made (with the shirt tucked in, by the way), the second was on a set ball Dennis put back over the net, and the third was a ball Nils hit down the line the ref claimed also hit the antenna. I still cannot understand why Danish volleyball doesn't have line judges. There's no way referees can see those types of plays with any kind of accuracy. Also, there was a ball that was such an obvious touch on Hvidovre that they went back into serve receive, but the ref was determined to give the point to them until he changed his call when he saw Hvidovre waiting in reception. To me, the worst part of it was the fact they were inconsistent. A ball that one play would be called a double would in the next be perfectly OK. If you're a bad ref, you're bad for both teams, but being inconsistent is inexcusable. They are certainly not the reason we lost; we managed that on our own. But as I sit and think back on the match, the plays the refs made are some of the ones that stand out the most, which is unfortunate, because that's not volleyball.
All the progress that we made over the past 3-4 matches felt like it went down the toilet Sunday. The 3 weeks off definitely did us no favors. I felt like I didn't run the offense as quickly as I could to the outsides, and for whatever reason there were not a lot of good balls for me to give to Fleming when he was in the front. There were a ton of unforced errors on our part: missed serves, shanked passes, net violations, etc. that if we could have eliminated would have made it a completely different ball game. The match felt like the ones we played two months ago, when we were still early in the season and not everyone was on the same wavelength. I hope the Christmas break does not pose the same problem for us, because when we come back our first matches are Gentofte and Middlefart. The best thing we can take from this match is a renewed focus in practice this week so we can finish off 2007 with a win against ASV on Sunday. It is a home match, where we have played well recently, and should hopefully be just what the doctor ordered to get us back on track.
On a positive note from the weekend, my knee is coming along well, and I played without pain on Sunday. I'm a little sore today, but nothing major, and I think the knee brace I've been wearing has helped.
The previous game against Hvidovre we killed them, scoring a ton of points off our serves and rolling to an easy victory. Their form had been good at home, however, as they had taken a set off Marienlyst recently. The also had some new players, including a new setter who seemed more experienced than the previous one. I felt good going into the game; I didn't expect it to be easy, their result against Marienlyst suggested as much, but I did think we would win if we could play as well as we did against Marienlyst three weeks before.
The first play of the game, I set back to Dennis, who waffled the ball, but still got the kill, with the ball landing just inside the back line. That would turn out to be one of the few times in the match luck was on our side. Our passing was shaky from the start, and I had trouble getting the middle going early. Like I've said before, if you can't get the middle going early, it's hard to come back to it later because the other team will be camping out on it anytime you get a decent pass. Hvidovre also blocked well in the first set, allowing them to score a lot of points off their own serve. They ended up cruising to a win, 16-25.
The second set had more of the same, unfortunately, with poor passing and little rhythm in our offense, and some good play by Hvidovre. Dennis and Joakim were switched, but we continued to miss a lot of serves and not put a lot of pressure on them early in the set. However, as it progressed we improved and I was able to get Morten some balls in the middle and I felt more in sync with the hitters. We managed to close the gap a bit, but we had given up too many points in the beginning and ended up losing, 21-25.
The third set saw us finally beginning to play some real volleyball. The errors were reduced (but still not eliminated) on our side, and we were able to get some float serves on their libero, who had trouble with them and thus gave their setter fewer options. They had been running the middle pretty well all day, and forcing them to the outsides definitely helped us win the set. We were down late in the set, 22-24, with me serving and Hvidovre having match ball. Joakim was subbed in and came up with a big block to make it 23-24, and Dennis and Fleming got another to tie it up. Two plays later, we dug a transition ball and I set back to Dennnis who killed it to win the set for us 26-24.
After winning the 3rd we had all the momentum in the match, and Hvidovre looked on their heels, but we couldn't take advantage of it at all. Early in the 4th we were down by 5 or 6 points, and all the momentum we had was lost. However, we were able to run off several points on our own serve a couple times and we created energy to get back into the set with some great kills and blocks by Niels, who had switched to opposite. As our coach pointed out, they didn't look comfortable in close situations at the end of the match, as evidenced by their two missed serves at the end of the 4th when they had match ball. Two questionable calls by the referees (more on them later), including the ball that would have won us the set, put Hvidovre in a position to win the match again, at 25-26. A hitting error on the last play ended up giving a victory to them and was a fitting end to the day for us.
Not to make any excuses, but the referees made decisions that changed the course of the game. We were having trouble with our new jerseys, which kept coming untucked and hitting the net, but there were at least three phantom net calls against us. The first was on me on a block I made (with the shirt tucked in, by the way), the second was on a set ball Dennis put back over the net, and the third was a ball Nils hit down the line the ref claimed also hit the antenna. I still cannot understand why Danish volleyball doesn't have line judges. There's no way referees can see those types of plays with any kind of accuracy. Also, there was a ball that was such an obvious touch on Hvidovre that they went back into serve receive, but the ref was determined to give the point to them until he changed his call when he saw Hvidovre waiting in reception. To me, the worst part of it was the fact they were inconsistent. A ball that one play would be called a double would in the next be perfectly OK. If you're a bad ref, you're bad for both teams, but being inconsistent is inexcusable. They are certainly not the reason we lost; we managed that on our own. But as I sit and think back on the match, the plays the refs made are some of the ones that stand out the most, which is unfortunate, because that's not volleyball.
All the progress that we made over the past 3-4 matches felt like it went down the toilet Sunday. The 3 weeks off definitely did us no favors. I felt like I didn't run the offense as quickly as I could to the outsides, and for whatever reason there were not a lot of good balls for me to give to Fleming when he was in the front. There were a ton of unforced errors on our part: missed serves, shanked passes, net violations, etc. that if we could have eliminated would have made it a completely different ball game. The match felt like the ones we played two months ago, when we were still early in the season and not everyone was on the same wavelength. I hope the Christmas break does not pose the same problem for us, because when we come back our first matches are Gentofte and Middlefart. The best thing we can take from this match is a renewed focus in practice this week so we can finish off 2007 with a win against ASV on Sunday. It is a home match, where we have played well recently, and should hopefully be just what the doctor ordered to get us back on track.
On a positive note from the weekend, my knee is coming along well, and I played without pain on Sunday. I'm a little sore today, but nothing major, and I think the knee brace I've been wearing has helped.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Game v Marienlyst
We played Marienlyst Sunday, and this was a game that I had been looking forward to for some time. Unfortunately though, I started coming down with something on Thursday, and I was really sick on Friday. I ended up laying in bed all day, running a fever yet being freezing cold at the same time, with a sore throat and headache to boot. I felt a little better Saturday, and by Sunday, luckily, I was well enough to play, but it would have to have been something major to keep me out of that game.
Marienlyst came in hooting and hollering like they usually do during warm-ups, and their Brazilian didn't manage to hit the roof, which I laughed at. He still hits harder than anyone on our team, but I thought it was a moral victory for us that he didn't hit the ceiling. I think our team felt confident going into the game. We knew we had a full line-up and we had had some good training that week. On the flip-side, Marienlyst looked a little over-confident, which is somewhat understandable after demolishing us in the previous meeting.
The first set started off great, we got points off blocks and counter-attacks, and took advantage of errors by Marienlyst. They missed a lot of serves in the early going and we sided out on the first ball pretty well, which was important. We opened up a lead of five points midway through the first set, and kept it until near the end. We had some trouble with service reception, and they were able to close the gap and eventually tie it up at 23-23. We had set point, but they were able to side out, and they ended up finishing us off for set point with a block, 24-26.
Despite losing a tough set and some momentum, I felt good going into the second set. We were playing well with the exception of a few points here and there, and I thought that we definitely could take it to them. Our middles were basically unstoppable in the first set, and I probably gave about 80% of the balls to them. The second set started off evenly, with the score being close most of the way, until we ran into a rough patch about a third of the way through. There was some miscommunication between me and Dennis, and then a little later we got stuck in a rotation where they ran off four or five points in a row, and suddenly Marienlyst had a five or six point lead. We managed a few points off our serve, but not enough to get back into the set, and we lost the second 20-25.
The third set started off a bit rough, and they opened up a 4-1 lead before we called a timeout. We settled back down and evened things up playing close most of the way. We had a few good runs of points off counter-attacks, including an amazing one-handed block by Kesse on the other middle. I also was finally able to cause some reception trouble for Marienlyst with my serve, something I hadn't been able to do all day, and had been frustrating me. Our middles continued to put nearly every ball away, but Marienlyst counter-attacked well and ended up taking the set 21-25.
This was definitely the best service reception game that we have had, despite the rough patches. With those moments excluded, I had nearly three options every time and was more than happy to feed the middles, who played great. It was nice to have Goat back, and I think our middles are one of our best advantages against other teams in the league. I can't remember a match I have played in that I set the middles so much. Normally when you run the middle so often they start getting two blockers, but that didn't happen much, and when it did, it didn't matter. They played really great I thought. That being said, I should have involved the outsides a bit more to help keep them in rhythm, but it's always hard as a setter to go away from someone who is so hot and winning so many balls. I was a bit disappointed with my physical performance; I felt a bit sluggish at times and like I didn't have my legs beneath me, which was frustrating.
I think that even though it was a disappointing loss, especially having had set point in the first, it was another positive step forward for the team. Even though it is completely cliche, we have gotten better each week, and that is really all you can ask of a team. We had some mental errors here and there, but they were less frequent then previous weeks. Our passing was also great, and much improved over previous weeks. I feel completely in sync with everyone in the reception offense and pretty good out of transition as well. As long as we keep building on these things we'll be fine.
We'll be missing three guys from the team for the next two weeks as they go to Copenhagen to play for the national team and the Olympic qualifiers for Denmark. This means we have another long break again until our next match, which is in three weeks against Hvidovre. It is frustrating to have such a long time off; we have only three matches in 8 weeks, so we will have to have some good training sessions and stay focused.
Marienlyst came in hooting and hollering like they usually do during warm-ups, and their Brazilian didn't manage to hit the roof, which I laughed at. He still hits harder than anyone on our team, but I thought it was a moral victory for us that he didn't hit the ceiling. I think our team felt confident going into the game. We knew we had a full line-up and we had had some good training that week. On the flip-side, Marienlyst looked a little over-confident, which is somewhat understandable after demolishing us in the previous meeting.
The first set started off great, we got points off blocks and counter-attacks, and took advantage of errors by Marienlyst. They missed a lot of serves in the early going and we sided out on the first ball pretty well, which was important. We opened up a lead of five points midway through the first set, and kept it until near the end. We had some trouble with service reception, and they were able to close the gap and eventually tie it up at 23-23. We had set point, but they were able to side out, and they ended up finishing us off for set point with a block, 24-26.
Despite losing a tough set and some momentum, I felt good going into the second set. We were playing well with the exception of a few points here and there, and I thought that we definitely could take it to them. Our middles were basically unstoppable in the first set, and I probably gave about 80% of the balls to them. The second set started off evenly, with the score being close most of the way, until we ran into a rough patch about a third of the way through. There was some miscommunication between me and Dennis, and then a little later we got stuck in a rotation where they ran off four or five points in a row, and suddenly Marienlyst had a five or six point lead. We managed a few points off our serve, but not enough to get back into the set, and we lost the second 20-25.
The third set started off a bit rough, and they opened up a 4-1 lead before we called a timeout. We settled back down and evened things up playing close most of the way. We had a few good runs of points off counter-attacks, including an amazing one-handed block by Kesse on the other middle. I also was finally able to cause some reception trouble for Marienlyst with my serve, something I hadn't been able to do all day, and had been frustrating me. Our middles continued to put nearly every ball away, but Marienlyst counter-attacked well and ended up taking the set 21-25.
This was definitely the best service reception game that we have had, despite the rough patches. With those moments excluded, I had nearly three options every time and was more than happy to feed the middles, who played great. It was nice to have Goat back, and I think our middles are one of our best advantages against other teams in the league. I can't remember a match I have played in that I set the middles so much. Normally when you run the middle so often they start getting two blockers, but that didn't happen much, and when it did, it didn't matter. They played really great I thought. That being said, I should have involved the outsides a bit more to help keep them in rhythm, but it's always hard as a setter to go away from someone who is so hot and winning so many balls. I was a bit disappointed with my physical performance; I felt a bit sluggish at times and like I didn't have my legs beneath me, which was frustrating.
I think that even though it was a disappointing loss, especially having had set point in the first, it was another positive step forward for the team. Even though it is completely cliche, we have gotten better each week, and that is really all you can ask of a team. We had some mental errors here and there, but they were less frequent then previous weeks. Our passing was also great, and much improved over previous weeks. I feel completely in sync with everyone in the reception offense and pretty good out of transition as well. As long as we keep building on these things we'll be fine.
We'll be missing three guys from the team for the next two weeks as they go to Copenhagen to play for the national team and the Olympic qualifiers for Denmark. This means we have another long break again until our next match, which is in three weeks against Hvidovre. It is frustrating to have such a long time off; we have only three matches in 8 weeks, so we will have to have some good training sessions and stay focused.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
