It had been a long, long time since we last played a match. A little uncertainty about where our level would be after the break, combined with SK’s fairly strong performance in the pokal final, made me think it would be a pretty even match. As it turned out, it was.
Generally, I think both teams sided out with a high efficiency. The major difference was that SK wasn’t able to hold stability in the rest of their game. Without any actual stats in front of me, I would guess that they had more clean aces than we did, but that they had a significant number of “2’s” in passing that made it easier for our block to get a good read on their hitters. I also think that the tempo of their offense is slightly slower than what we are used to, as a result we had more time to set two man blocks on our side. Their hitters also made some key mistakes that bailed us out when we didn’t effectively side out.
The second set was particularly interesting as we trailed pretty much the whole way. At 24-21 it didn’t look particularly good for us, but a few well-placed serves from the Scottish legend, created an opportunity that we ended up making good on. Kind of chronically for SK, they made a few errors at the end of the set and gave us a little hope, which in turn gave us the confidence to take the set. I think that winning that set gave us a real boost. It confirmed that we could get points when we needed them and took a lot of pressure off of us. Obviously, 1-1 in sets is a lot different from 2-0…
BT and Hansen deserve a lot of credit for creating the raw material with their passing. Also, Stewart had probably his best day for the team, he even hit some balls into the court without first hitting someone in the block! Congratulations Stewart! Overall, this one was a nice team victory for us. Everyone found a way to contribute and the team worked as a collective, really something that I think we can be proud of and hopefully a trend that will continue.
It’s a good feeling to shake off the rust of a long vacation with a pretty crisp win at home. More importantly, it’s nice to create a little space between us and the rest of the competition in the standings. Now it’s all about getting ready for next week and a visit from Holte and their incredible, interchangeable, ever-mutating team. (Just kidding Kristoffer, just wanted to mess with you a bit). Congratulations to all the teams this week, glad to be back!
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We are ever-mutating. If we are lucky enough to have a thunderstorm before saturday, we may reanimate Polyphemus who - apart from being an ace in throwing mountains - has a naaasty block.
He got a note from home saying that it was all right for him to play, as long as someone will tie his shoes for him.
I know I am a little touchy about the team at times, but we have had a lot af trouble assembling a team altogether, and I am very proud that we made it to the slutspil. I find it odd and annoying, when the way we have been setting the squad is considered 'unworthy' or when the players we have used from the 2nd team are dismissed as being old geezers. Not as fit as they have been previously, but they are still great players.
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