Apart from a dumper truck incident on the way down to our capital, Riga W1 had a fairly relaxed arrival at Malory and everyone was there half hour before warm up, at 1pm. After our usual warm up coach Collins faced a touch choice for his first starting six

Set 1
Riga’s first reception won them the first point and the next point the ball must have crossed the net 20 times. Riga wondered how long the match was going to take when they suddenly found themselves 8:4 up. Ellie soon settled into her first match playing up this year and seemed comfortable through the middle. Very good hitting from Michaela and Celine, plus the disciplined block allowed our back court to pick up Malory’s hits, denying them valuable points early on. Very good team work and structure throughout. With Julie’s consistent passing and Michaela’s serving concluded the set.

Set 2
Another marathon rally went our way and excellent defence throughout the team Riga were 7:4 up. Malory then cut out their forced errors and Riga had to work hard for each point. Points were traded through the set, but strong tactical serving from Ania and Lisa kept Riga in the driving seat. Riga time out called by coach Collins, gave the girls encouragement and positive feedback (for a change), motivated Riga to go out and take the next point Malory dealt them. With a fantastic pick up by Celine, Lisa set Michaela to smack the ball getting Riga to 21:21. Malory’s time out had little effect and Riga continued this form for the next 3 points with Michele’s steady serving

Set 3
A shocked coach Collins repeated himself for the umpteenth time and instructed the team to maintain concentration. Riga went out again as a team in all areas, good fired hits from Celine, disrupted hits from Michele and good hands from Ellie in the middle helped keep form. After 3 service reception errors Malory were 18:15 up. Whoops! The inevitable happened and Riga lost concentration. Riga had to dig deep and scramble to pick up Malory’s attack. Julie picked up well and allowed Michaela to win points at the net. Michele served strong and consistent to a weak spot from 17 to 24 making Malory have to concentrate hard to stay in the set and the match. Malory served with no confidence and our hit forced their net touch signalled by the ref

“A FANTASTIC TEAM VICTORY” quoted by Tom Young

MVP #4 Celine for Riga and
MVP #6 Ruddock for Malory’s libero