Warwick Riga volleyball team won a very important away match against Polonia in West London a week last Sunday. The team played particularly well after losing their unbeaten record to London Malory the previous weekend and also lost the first set against Polonia after holding the upper hand for most of the time. Polonia are the current league leaders & have made great progress this year after a poor season last campaign so Riga were very pleased with their afternoon’s work.
The Riga team started very well and took an early lead in the first set. The lead was squandered during the middle of the set and the teams were level going into the final stages at 21-21. The set was disappointingly lost due to a degree of complacency after the Riga team had been in the lead for most of the set and the Londoners making fewer unforced errors snatched the set right at the death (25-23).
Coach Young: plain talking required!
The Riga boys had now lost four sets in a row, an unfamiliar experience this season, and it took coach Tom Young some plain talking between the first and second set to change the team’s spirit. Afterwards he mentioned that the players were feeling sorry for themselves as all four sets had been lost by a small margin of two or three points. "I told them that you cannot expect to get the last two points just because you have been playing better for most of the set" he said, "my boys failed to establish a bigger lead when in complete control at the beginning of the set which unnecessarily gave our opponent’s a chance to take their opportunities towards the end."
The pep talk between the sets seemed to work as the next three sets showed a similar pattern with Warwick building a substantial lead early in the set without allowing Polonia back into the game. In each of the sets Riga started off with a good all round game and decisive attacking when needed. Libero Matthew Howe played particularly well in defence whilst Andy Lynn was back to his best with some excellent serves and hard hits.
Polonia lost their motivation to win the match after losing the second set 19-25 and trailing 17-9 in the third set. The final score in the third set was 17-25 whilst the last set showed an even bigger margin 15-25.
Howe: good performance in defence
"This was a very good come back having lost the first set", Tom Young said afterwards, "We finally seem to realise that we have the quality to win any match this season as long as we are willing to work for it but more importantly if we really want to win". The overall standings at the top of the league is very close after London Malory had lost their match against London Docklands on Saturday. Warwick Riga and London Malory have now both played seven and lost one match. "In theory it could all come down to the away match against Malory, but we first have to make sure that we do not drop any unnecessary points in the meantime", Tom Young added.
Riga’s next 2 matches are at home against Leeds on 6th December & City of Salford NW on 13th December the latter starting at 5pm & not the usual 6pm. These games are at St Nicholas Park Leisure Centre, Warwick and all spectators would be most welcome. The club then take a well deserved mini break from the National League but are involved in the EVA’s Premier League competition for the top 3 clubs in the country which is basically a showcase for the top players in England to display their talents, the first taking place at Cannons L.C. in Leicester on December 21st, start time 11am.