26 January 2008
Venue: Swiss Cottage
Riga 0 Swiss Cottage 3 (25-21, 27-25, 25-21)
Sponsors of Riga ladies' first team
| NVL Division One 26 January 2008 Venue: Swiss Cottage Riga 0 Swiss Cottage 3 (25-21, 27-25, 25-21) |
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| Report written by Julia Werdich | Sponsors of Riga ladies' first team |
| Riga W1 faced Swiss Cottage in the National League Division 1 last
Saturday in Central London. At the beginning of the season Riga had
beaten Swiss Cottage at home with a very strong performance, however
Swiss Cottage have since gained more players and so the Riga team were
aware that nothing would be easy when facing them again away. Swiss Cottage were promoted from Division 2 last year, have settled very well into the top division and already caused trouble to many teams, especially at their home venue. They had recently beaten defending champions Wolverhampton so Riga knew they'd need to be at the top of their game. A 12 noon warm up time at their venue in Central London on a Saturday meant facing some tough traffic for the Riga team. Part of the team had a shortened warm-up time because of late arrival due to Motorway closure, roadwork and congestion in Central London. In the first set Riga started very nervously without captain Alex Smith who was not feeling well and went down very quickly 1:8. This was mainly due to many errors on the Riga side. After a time-out followed by some strong serving from Anna Meister, Riga fought back several points. However Swiss Cottage played very confidently with almost no errors, were in the lead throughout the set and took the first set 25:21. Riga made less errors in the second set and started with an improved performance. Riga took an early lead in the set with improved passing and hitting. But the Swiss Cottage block and defence retaliated and Riga struggled to put the ball away despite everyone's best efforts. Swiss Cottage showed some aggressive play and strong attacks down the line. Towards the end of the set both teams fought hard and the tension rose as the score was level. Riga made an unforced error at a cruicial point giving Swiss Cottage set point 25-26, but played the next point brilliantly. A strong attack through the right side clearly touched the Swiss Cottage block, but the referee called the ball out and gave the set to Swiss Cottage leaving Riga 2:0 down and very angry. Smith came into the fray to try and help the Riga side convert this anger into points, but the Swiss Cottage side, growing stronger and more confident with each point, continued to play almost faultlessly. Smith's attacking through the right side and back court matched this, however Riga struggled to close the block and defend, despite excellent passing from Julia Werdich and Julie Bromell, and Riga lost the third set 25:21 and the match 3-0. Riga then faced the long journey home back through the london traffic to prepare for the match against Loughborough the following day. MVP - Alex Smith. |
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