Riga ladies second team new signing Annabel Chetham walked away with 2 “most valueable player” awards last Sunday. Annabel ,who has just rejoined Riga after 2 years at university , played her first games for the club at the weekend and was twice voted “MVP”.
The girls played Leeds and Chester in Div III of the National Volleyball league at St Nicholas Park Leisure Centre in Warwick. With the biggest squad the side has seen for some times the girls were hopeful of quick win and in the first set cruised to a comfortable win 25 – 13. Miriam Kay had a run of excellent serving and new signing Paulina Chlebowska made a fantastic winning block with her first touch of the match.
In the second set Riga went from strength to strength. Veteran Jayne Warman started the set serving 9 points in a row and some excellent picking up and blocking from Sharon Dea gave the girls a commanding 17 – 3 lead. Netty Purkiss was her usual steady self on back court and the quality of her passing helped setter Clare Francis to put excellent balls out to the hitters. The girls continued strongly and took the set 25 -10.
In the third set the girls the fell victim to complacency and errors crept into their game. Jane Kinnis made a long awaited return from injury and despite some excellent blocking the team could not establish a rhythm. Unforced errors continued to be a feature of Riga’s game and combined with an improvement in Leed’s performance the girls lost the set 17 – 25.
In the 4th set nerves played a part. New signing Annabel Chetham made a number of excellent hits from tight balls on the net and Emma Young the squad’s youngest setter picked up some amazing shots. The scores were neck and neck throughout but the girls maintained the pressure on the opposition and were soon serving for the match. A close fought rally ended with a miss hit ball in the net so Annabel Chetham was forced to serve again and with Riga’s block putting Leeds under pressure the girls forced an error and took the set and the match 25-22.
Next up it was Chester who are coached by the England Junior coach threatened to be an equally tough side but Riga responded well. In the first set good serving from Netty Purkis kept the scores even but at 10 all Riga started to pull away. Miriam Kay blocked well and good distribution of sets from Emma Young meant that Jayne Warman was able to hit shots down the line out of Chester’s reach. Riga won the first set 25 : 20 and went forward into the second “on a roll”. A solid start and a good lead in the second set meant that player/coach Virginia Rennie was able to make a number of substitutions and give everyone a game. In the past changing players had often upset the squad’s balance but the girls were playing so well that on this occasion it was not a problem. There were several long rallies during which the team scrambled and chased down the ball again and again to be finally rewarded with the point and a very important psychological victory.
In the 3rd set a couple of position changes lead to a “wobbly” start but Clare Francis steadied the ship despite playing out of her usual position and Riga eventually cruised to victory 3:0.
Virginia Rennie who stood in for coach Rodney Barbour did a fantastic job . In a selfless gesture she offered to take on the role even though it meant she would be unable to play herself and she steered the team to victory into the bargin!
Pictures to follow
