NL Division 3E, 10th November 2002
Warwick Riga II 3 East Hants 1 (25-19 25-18 23-25 25-18)
Warwick Riga II 3 Chiltern Ladies 2 (25-21 18-25 23-25 25-21 15-11)
Riga Ladies II entertained East Hants and Chiltern at home on Sunday - the
team were looking to consolidate on their excellent start to the season and put
pressure on the current league leaders Ashcombe.
First up were national league new comers, East Hants, and Riga were too strong
for them in the opening 2 sets. A couple of notable blocks by Steph " don't mess
with me" including a one handed effort, backed up by strong hitting by Emma
"where is the side line?" Wood meant that Riga took the first 2 sets, 25-18 and
25-19.
The 3rd set saw rather too many lapses in concentration from the home team -
Coach Rob was trying every substitution to try and get the Riga team back on
track, The set saw the return of Jane, front court specialist only Kinnis
and Sarah dived around the back court doing her usual goalkeeping exhibition
whilst pretending to play libero - but to no avail. East Hants
deservedly took the set 25-23 with Riga just unable to finish off the fight
back.
The 4th set saw a much more determined attitude set in with the Riga team.
Jayne Warman demanded a " Wall of Steel " from the front court players and they
duly responded. There was a much greater urgency about the Riga play in this set
with Penny trampling over Jayne in her enthusiasm to win the point - and she won
rather a lot for us in this set with strong hitting. Setters Ginny and
Ruth guided the team up to a 22-17 lead and then a double substitution of Claire
and Jane saw the team home to a win of 25-18 and a match victory by 3-1.
Captain Ginny said afterwards: "...we did what we had to do - but we'll need to
go up a gear for our next game...". Everyone knew that although we had won
the match. we hadn't really played to our full potential but a win is a win.
Next up was Chiltern, a team Riga had never beaten. Riga got off to a very slow
start and were behind for the majority of the first set. At 18-14, Rob called a
crucial time out to refocus the team and then Ruthie and Steph won 11 points on
their respective serves to take the team to a win of 25-21.
Having enjoyed such a strong come back, Riga were looking to now pull away - but
it didn't quite work out like that. Irene ( I've lost my shirt already )
made a guest appearance through the middle and, again, Rob tried every
substitution available to him, including Sarah coming on as libero at 2, 3 and 4
but Chiltern took the set 25-18. They also took the very close 3rd set by
25-23 - so for the first time this season, Riga were faced with needing to win
in 5 sets if they wanted to extend their unbeaten run of 3 games.
The crucial 4th set started and Riga players were putting some awesome
performances as we covered every inch of the court in our efforts to win the
game. Jayne Warman was finding the hole at short 6, Steph was blocking
everything and Emma and Penny were hitting superbly. The set reached 19
all so time for one final effort from the Riga team. We took the next 6 points
with some excellent volleyball, and the set 25-20.
So, to a 5th set decider. Chiltern went into an early lead, 6-4 but then
Riga were first to the change around at 8- 7. Intelligent hitting into the
Chiltern gaps coupled with some strong defending by the Riga team saw us reach
11-9. The Chiltern defence was also doing very well as both teams knew
that the match could go either way - there was one amazing defensive kick of the
ball by Chiltern to rescue a point that seemed a certain winner for Riga.
The match reached 11-all and then it was left to Jayne Warman to serve out the
set for Riga.
We took the next 4 points and won the match by 3 sets to 2. Overall a great performance and one where the team really had to dig deep to secure the win. Everyone made good contributions through out both games and these 2 wins take us up to the top of the table.
Big thanks to all the men's teams players (plus Chris & Ludo) who scored,
line judged and supported us. Much appreciated - thank you!
Our next match is Sunday, Nov 17th in the cup where we entertain first division
side Wessex. We 're playing at St
Nicholas Park and the match starts at 12:30. Everyone is welcome
Sarah Halling