(25-15, 25-13, 23-25, 25-15)
Match Report by Alex Smith
Riga ladies drew a strong London League team in the second round of the cup and knew it would be a struggle due to having a depleted squad. Middle hitter Juliane Laetsch was absent due to family commitments, Fan Gueguen's knee had played up in the week and she wouldn't be playing and Captain Alex Smith had been in hospital with a dodgy eye earlier in the week and been told she was not to play. Add to that the fact that Tracey Whitley had turned her ankle in training on Thursday (having only been back from ankle surgery for a month) and wasn't sure how she would be and the team knew the remaining 7 would need to pull together to get the team through the tie.
The team went out strong and quickly took a lead through tough serving lead by Celine Haederli and Anna Meister, and with Lisa Purcell setting well, all hitters were able to get many kills past the London team. Riga maintained the pressure and took the first set clearly 25-15.
Wanting to test her ankle, Tracey Whitley took over the setting duties in the second set and the team continued to dominate at the net lead by solid blocking from middle hitters Michele Peryer and Sophie Louen. The team continued to serve well and took the second set 25-13.
In the third set, London Lionhearts upped their game and started defending brilliantly meaning they were picking up even the best hits from Haederli and Julia Werdich. Both teams played very well and the set scores crept up with nothing between the teams. At 10-10, Whitley signalled to the bench that her ankle was sore so Purcell returned to the fray. The set score continued to be tight but with libero Julie Bromell and Werdich producing some fantastic pick ups it looked like Riga might manage the 3-0 victory, but then Lionhearts produced 3 brilliant serves causing Riga to lose the set 25-23.
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