Riga Ladies 1 got an excellent start to their season with a clear victory over newly promoted Reading Aces in National League Division 1.  Riga are hoping to improve further on the 3rd they achieved last year (the best in the club’s history) with support from new sponsors Mooncup.  Kath Clements, the Mooncup representative was at the match to hand over the cheque and meet all the players and the team were eager to show Mooncup the investment was worth while.

The match started with Lisa Purcell serving Riga to a 4-0 lead.  Reading seemed slightly startled and did not really recover in the set.  Michele Peryer added 6 points on her serve and the Riga team looked comfortable playing very neat volleyball.  Riga took the first set 25-13.

As expected, Reading started the second set with renewed vigour and they defended really well throughout the set.  There were some incredible rallies which got the crowd into the match.  Reading took the lead and remained there as the scores crept up, but Chloe Walkingshaw served to pull Riga level to 14-14.  Reading continued to fight, defending everything Riga threw at them; however they were also unable to put the ball away.  After a couple of blocks from Alex Smith, the Reading attack weakened further enabling Riga to win some crucial rallies.  Purcell and Peryer each added 3 service points at the end of the set as Riga’s experience and strength prevented Reading from reaching 20 points.  Riga won 25-19.

In the third set, the crowd watched a very confident Riga executing good volleyball.  Walkingshaw’s hitting improved further preventing Reading’s defence from being able to do anything about her.  Smith did some good defending backcourt and Riga really dominated the set.  Riga also managed to get some consistent hitting through the middle and Anna Wojdala made her mark with good attacks.  Smith scored 8 points on her serve taking the score to 14-3, a scoreline Reading never recovered from.   Riga only conceded a single point on their serve reception in the set which shows how well Julie Bromell and Celine Haederli were passing.  Reading succumbed in a very quick 13 minutes giving Riga the third set 25-9 and the match 3-0.

Coventry & Warwick Riga Ladies 1 next face Loughborough away on the 27th September and would like to thank Mooncup for their support this season.

MVPs
Riga – Chloe Walkingshaw
Reading – Ally Newman

See also coverage on the English Volleyball Association site and the Coventry Observer.

LtoR
Back Row:  Michele Peryer, Miriam Kay, Alex Smith (Captain), Celine Haederli, Anna Wojdala, Chloe Walkingshaw, Andy Collins (Coach)

LtoR
Back Row:  Michele Peryer, Celine Haederli, Miriam Kay, Alex Smith (Captain), Chloe Walkingshaw, Anna Wojdala, Andy Collins (Coach)

LtoR
Back Row:  Celine Haederli, Miriam Kay, Alex Smith (Captain), Chloe Walkingshaw, Anna Wojdala, Andy Collins (Coach)

LtoR
Tracey Newton, Chloe Walkingshaw, Alex Smith (Captain), Emma Young, Anna Wojdala, Julie Bromell, Celine Haederli, Lisa Purcell, Kath Clements (mooncup representative), Miriam Kay, Michele Peryer, Andy Collins (Coach)