NVL Division Three North |
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Report written by Netti Purkiss |
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The match against Chester started in a positive manner with both teams remaining within two points of each other at the start of the first set. Having just gained a victory against Leicester, Chester continued to serve consistently and picked up most of the strong hits from Riga. Fittingly it was captain Jayne Warman for Riga that did the telling damage towards the end of the set with a run of well placed serves which gave Riga a five point cushion which ensured that Riga won the first set with a score line of 26-24. In not uncommon fashion, Riga then relaxed at the beginning of the second set and, despite some technically sound play, by the middle of the set they found themselves six points behind. The scoreline remained similar to the end of the set with there being a seven point gap 18-25 at the end. Set three saw renewed enthusiasm from Riga with the players beginning to communicate more effectively and all was well with some accurate setting from Claire Francis, until up stepped Chester’s captain at 11-15 determined to turn the tables. Eleven points later with the score 22–15 a shell shocked Riga managed to regain their composure but to little avail, with the third set closing at 17-25. By the time the forth set began Riga had learnt from their mistakes and demonstrated some solid teamwork with excellent cover work close to the net. This good start continued well into the forth set. Thus when the mid-set saw yet another gap in the scoreline grow and grow, and with little detectable error on Riga’s part, frustration was apparent. Just over an hour from the beginning of the match Riga found themselves, somewhat surprisingly, in a fourth set, two sets down and with a nine point deficit to claw back. This shock seemed to be the additional incentive they needed to demonstrate what many knew they were capable of. Powerful hitting from Annabelle Chetham through the off setter position was complimented by consistent serving from Miriam Kay. The end of the set saw a determined Riga squad pull back to 24-24, however even though a tactical substitution from Chester at this point in the match failed to break Riga’s concentration, they were still unfortunately unable to secure the points needed to win the set and thus suffered a disappointing defeat with a last set score of 24-26. The final set scoreline read Riga 1- Chester 3. Most valuable player – Annabelle Chetham After a short break and still dispirited from their loss against Chester, Riga played the first set of this match at about 60% of their capability. Despite off court encouragement from coach Rodney Barbour and Virginia Rennie the girls lacked the killer instinct and saw the first go to Leicester 21-25. Understandably disappointed with their performance the Riga players pulled together to motivate each other. Now on court, and receiving a higher quality first pass, Virginia Rennie distributed the ball well which resulted in some effective attacking play that split the opposition’s block and ensured a comfortable win of the second set 25-15. Riga entered the third set again assured of their ability to play high quality volleyball and now united as a squad. New libero Kristin Schultz, proved to be a welcome addition to the receiving line up with many accurate passes getting to the setter. It was disappointing then that the scoreline did not seem to reflect the state of play, with Leicester managing to defend well and gradually creep away during the set to take the third set 17-25. In the forth set Sharon Allen continued to place her hits well and both teams remained equal pegging until 8-8 when some tricky serves from Leicester put Riga under pressure. Following a run of eight service points Leicester then had their heads up and seemed to be heading for a comfortable win despite Riga composing themselves again. With the scoreline 13-22 Riga decided it was time to take their anger out on the ball, hence the serves were rarely returned. After three consecutively successful Riga servers and some good defensive play, Riga found themselves back at 24:24 with a game to play for. It was at this point that history repeated itself and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, despite no major errors, Riga found themselves suffering the second defeat of the day. The scoreline read Riga 1 - Leicester 3. Most valuable player – Netti Purkis All in all a disappointing weekend yet one with moments of brilliance. Target …to extend the moments into minutes then longer! |
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