Tips 2/12/05

The biggest match this weekend takes place on Windelsvej in Odense. Gentofte is coming to town for a preview of our Pokal semi-final in two weeks time. It also looks like the match will decide which one of us ends the grundspil in second place and takes two points over to the slutspil, it should be a good one and I’m looking forward to it. Besides our match, it looks like there are a couple of other open games out there that I’ll take a closer look at now.

HIK – Lyngby (H 2.50): HIK proved last week that they are playing on a higher level than they were earlier in the year. Even though they have been missing some key players, they dominated their match against Hvidovre and then took Gentofte to a tight fifth set before losing. Lyngby has also been playing decent volleyball lately but there is, simply put, a class difference here that should result in an easy HIK win. I would be surprised at anything other than a 3-0 win to HIK.

DHG (H 1.50) – Hvidovre: Besides our match against Gentofte, this is probably the most open match this weekend. If it was earlier in the season I would pick Hvidovre no question. But these teams seem to be going in different directions at the moment. While DHG has shown improvement, possibly because of the addition of some new players, Hvidovre has gone downhill. A lot of the optimism from early on is gone and they have little left to play for except a good place in the elite qualification. DHG hasn’t won a match all year and that means that they have little to lose in this one, I expect that they will come out aggressive and put pressure on Hvidovre to beat them. The question is whether or not Hvidovre has the necessary experience to settle in and play solid volleyball in the face of strong opposition. Something tells me that they can in this one. I’m picking Hvidovre in 4.

Middelfart – PVC Lyngby (H 2.50): Middelfart has proven that they make fewer mistakes than any other team in the league. Like a good poker player, they are solid and aggressive and that means trouble for a PVC Lyngby team that can’t play with the same consistency. They’ve played before and it wasn’t close. I don’t see why anything changes here. 3-0 to the home team.

Holte (H 1.50) – SK Aarhus: There has been a lot of talk about Holte being able to pull off an upset here. I don’t see it happening. I’ve been suspect of Aarhus all year long, and I’m still not sure that they have enough stability on the outsides to be a real threat. But when you put them up against a team like Holte who will have trouble stopping a strong middle attack I think they have just enough to win. To beat Aarhus, Holte is going to have to pressure them with strong serving and I’m just not sure they can do it. I’m taking Aarhus 3-0 30-28, 26-24, 28-26. Let’s see what happens.

Marienlyst – Gentofte: We’ve been looking forward to this one for weeks. No handicap, same odds, both teams hopefully back at full strength. I’d be disappointed if it isn’t a good one. I know I’m excited.