THE MAGNIFICANT SEVEN
Despite having only 7 players Riga ladies had high hopes of a win when they played only their second home game of the season in Warwick on Sunday.
The girls started strongly against opposition Tonbridge and with some excellent serving from Captain Netty Purkis were soon well ahead. Some strong blocking from Sharon Dea who did a superb job playing out of position, lead the team to a storming 13 : 25 win.
In the second set, a series a rotation errors meant that Tonbridge were able to sneak ahead. However the girls held their nerve and some strong hitting and defensive work from Clare Walsh helped the girls to bring the score level. Some excellent middle hitting from Miriam Kay coupled with some good back court cover from Jayne Warman saw the girls cling on and take the set 26 :24.
In the third set Tonbridge started with some strong serving. Riga were unable to cope and found themselves 13:6 down. Following a calming time out by coach Rodney Barbour the girls regained their composure. Some steady setting by player coach Ginny Rennie helped the girls get back on track but it was nail bitingly close and at 21:24 down the coach was forced to call a substitution to disrupt the opposition. The girls held their nerve and at 24:24 Jayne Warman served the set out for the girls to take the match 24:26 3:0.
Netty Purkiss was voted most valuable player by the opposition
In the second match Riga faced their old rivals Leicester in a local Derby. The match was always going to be tough and with Leicester having a new signing who is part of the England development squad the girls had their work cut out. After a very slow start Riga finally began to play as a team and some strong blocking from Miriam Kay in the middle and powerful serving from Clare Walsh enabled Riga to sneak the first set 20:25.
Leicester, who are known for their determination were not going down without a fight and Riga were soon 8 points behind in th second set. Errors crept into their game and it seemed that they could not even do the basics well. Never the less Riga managed to keep their spirits up and continued to fight to the end. Despite loosing the set they showed a degree of mental strength which has been sadly lacking in their game until now.
In the third set Sharon Dea who had been forced to play out of position due to the absence of the team’s other middle hitter, returned to her normal role as main blocker opposite the setter and began to cause the opposition real problems. Clare Walsh had a spell “in the middle” and turned out to be extremely effective with a run of powerful spikes which won points every time.
Strong hitting from Netty Purkiss and steady hands from setter Ginny Rennie meant the girls were able to keep ahead and they finally took the set 21:25
In the 4th set Leicester came back hard and Riga once again found themselves trailing. Clare Francis was brought on as setter and her enthusiasm and quick reactions helped lift the team. As the set drew to a close the points were even and it required some steady serving from Jayne Warman (not her strong point under pressure!) to take the set and finally the match 24:26.
Clare Walsh was voted most valuable player by the opposition.
This is the first time Riga has secured 2 wins this season [Webmaster comment - save for the last time 2 Nov in Leicester against the same two teams that is of course Jayne!] and proves that they really were “the magnificent seven.”
