The last week of training has been terrible. At any given time, we've been without at least three or four of our players due to injury and sickness. Besides that, we just haven't been that focused and the practice hasn't been very high quality. When you have a bad week of practice, it doesn't leave you with a great feeling going into the next match.
That said, we came out from the beginning of the first set against Hvidovre and played well. We were stable and passed the ball well enough to be able to do what we wanted to do on offense.
The second set was interesting in that we kind of fell apart in the middle of it and couldn't really get back on track. I think we missed every serve except one after we got up to around 15 points so that didn't really help us. Add to that a bunch of balls hit out of bounds and players playing out of position and you have a recipe for losing games.
The third and fourth sets were pretty uneventful. Hvidovre seemed determined to let Shaun hit as much as possible against a one or no man block so we just kept giving him the ball.
In the end, we got to try a whole bunch of different stuff and move players around a lot to see what they could do in somewhat awkward positions. It wasn't a complete success but it wasn't really a failure either as we came home with the win.
Otherwise, I've been trying to keep updated on the Nordic Championships for volleyball which are going to take place this weekend in Norway and Sweden. Today there is a little information out there at Falkenberg's website, Habo's website and Førde's website.
The idea is that two teams from Denmark, two teams from Sweden, two teams from Norway and one team from Iceland will be split up into two three-team pools with the winners of those pools moving on to play in a final four with two teams from Finland. The two teams from Denmark were supposed to be Middelfart and Aarhus.
I think it is a great idea. What I don't think is a great idea is that Aarhus pulled themselves out of the tournament. I can't even explain how angry this makes me. First of all, that they accepted, and second that they then pulled out. Third, I don't really know what the story is, but I would love to hear why we (Marienlyst) couldn't take their place. I honestly don't know if we had the opportunity and said no or if the DVBF decided not to ask us or what, but in any case, it is a huge disappointment to me personally.
I don't know if anyone even cares about a Nordic Championships, maybe the fans aren't interested, I know I haven't really heard anyone talking about it, but if that's the case, I think it is a shame. A tournament like this is a great opportunity to play some high level volleyball against good competition. Besides the teams from Sweden, Norway and Iceland, the teams from Finland will unquestionably be very, very good. I'm personally pretty upset about the whole thing because I think that, especially considering that we weren't allowed to play European Cup volleyball, this was a great chance to try something new and different and exciting. I don't know why Aarhus decided not to go and I don't know why we weren't offered the chance to take their place, but I would sure like to...
Now, the only Danish representative will be Middelfart, so good luck to you guys I'll be interested to hear how it all goes.
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12 comments:
Aarhus meldte nok fra fordi deres trup ikke er komplet. Det ville vel også være lidt til grin at stille op med en libero på centeren, eller noget lignende.
i dont know what the last message said but i heard that aarhus is having some financial difficulties...not paying players...not sure if that has anything to do with it.
This is the first i've heard of these Nordic Championships. Sounds like a fantastic idea, that really is a shame that marienlyst couldn't replace aarhus. Especially since, from what i've heard, you guys have one the best lineups the DK has seen in a while.
Pretty happy to see that middelfart jumped on that opportunity. Good luck to them!
Hi Jordan
I think BM got an invitation like all other clubs in DK. So the answer must be found in your own club. And if you say no the first time, you can understand why you just make the tournament with fewer teams.
We participated last year with Fortunas ladies, and are going again this year. The tournament are for both gender even better this year, because finnish teams and television is broadcasting from the finals in Finland. You can read more on http://www.volleyboll.se/t2.aspx?p=707600&x=1&a=1108172
Concerning Aarhus and how they managed this situation, I can say that I am disapointed - not only because of the problems it created for Nevza - but also because it is dropping off on the chances for other teams in the future. But I am not surprised. It is a big event to organize, and it was probably easier saying yes compared to finding hotels, food, help etc It is just like hosting a European cup event - and you have to host people for 35 euro... Not easy in DK!!
We are going this weekend to play in Ørebro, but you probably know that due to Maja not being home ;-)
Mikkel Hauge
Hey Jordan,
agree with you that it totally sucks we are not going to the nordic championship. Im not really sure what Mikkel is saying, does he mean that every club in Denmark got the invitation to take Aarhus place efter they withdrew from the tournament? doubt that.
But i just read on the icelandic federations home page(www.bli.is in icelandic good luck;) that Oslo volley took Tromsø place because Tromsø was having financial difficulities...so why we didnt get to take Aarhus place is a real good question.
And an update on the icelandic team Stjarnan that is playing Middelfart is that they lost last weeekend for the first time since november 2005...
Matthias H
Hvem er det lige der egentlig har ret til at deltage i den omtalte turnering - hvorfor er det f.eks nr. 2 og nr. 3 fra Danmark der har fået muligheden og ikke mesterne fra Gentofte. det ser også ud til at i de andre lande er det muligt at give sin plads videre så det burde vel åbne op for Marienlyst ?
What I said, was that Marienlyst had the chance to go in the first place. If you look at Oslo's case, it is the norwegian federation who is taking part in getting a sub-team in the tournament. So maybe the danish federation hasn't done anything, but again - Marienlyst had the chance to go in the first place, and didn't - if they now wants to then I would say that the ball is in Marienlyst corner. With that I mean that if you say no the first time, is it then DVBF's job to ask "do you still mean no?"
Mikkel,maybe you know something i dont...but why do you think Marienlyst had the chance to go in the first place? The NEVZA Championship isnt, and shouldnt be an invitational tournament in my opinion. It's the top 2 teams in DK,NO,SW and nr 1 in ISL + FIN teams.
Marienlyst came 4th last season. Number 2 and 3 were invited to participate in the NEVZA Championship and both Middelfart and Aarhus said yes initially. It's possible marienlyst got the invitation after Aarhus withdrew, i dont know.
But im looking forward to seeing the results from the weekend, and good luck to you and the Fortuna team.
Matthias H
I don't think a lot of communication about this tournament has been going through the federation. I know I have hardly heard anything about it.
By the way, Jordan, who was playing "out of position" and "in somewhat awkward positions" in the Hvidovre match?
As far as I know, Marienlyst never had a real chance of going to the NEVZAs. Two teams from Denmark = Middelfart and Aarhus. They both finished ahead of Marienlyst last year so that is fair enough. What's ridiculous is that no one realized there was a good possibility that one of those two teams would not be able to go. And when Aarhus decided to pull out of the tournament (I read somewhere that they were supposed to host the women's tournament) there was no attempt to get a new team to take there place. If there was an offer to Marienlyst it was probably too late anyway considering we would have to find the money for it somewhere. I'm fairly sure that Marienlyst would have made a strong attempt to go to the NEVZA tournament if it was possible.
The more pressing issue is why no one seems to care about this at all. Kasper, you say yourself that no one in the federation has been talking about this at all. Why? Denmark has a good chance of doing well in the tournament as the league is usually stronger than both the Norwegian and Swedish leagues. Why would no one be interested in securing the best possible placement of Danish teams in the tournament? I think it is a great chance to play some good competition and to reflect positively on Danish volleyball by creating solid results internationally and for all the other reasons that Mikkel has talked about.
Basically, I just think it's a shame that only one Danish men's and one Danish women's team are going. Especially when it was forseeable that one or two of the teams scheduled to go would drop out.
Kasper, when I came in the first time, because Lasse had some trouble with his back, it was on a double switch with me coming in for Shaun and Geo coming in for Lasse. Firstly, that flip flops our rotation and secondly it puts Geo in as an opposite. It was the first time I have ever seen Geo try to play that position. Mads Mikkel played the whole match in the middle (I thought he played very well for his first full elite match) and Toke had not played one minute during the previous week and a half in training because he had a thumb injury but he started anyway. It's good to have flexibility in the line up but sometimes it takes a second to figure out what to do with everyone. For me, as a setter, I like to have a certain level of comfort with what everyone around me is doing. I think it got better for me as the game went along but I had trouble adjusting to all the different substitutions...
About our match: I didn't even notice that Santos played as an opposite.
Middles playing as middles in stead of being on the bench doesn't count as "playing out of position" ;-)
By the way, I came on in a double switch (flip flop) as well. And we put a middle blocker on as our new opposite! We didn't have our first opposite available.
About the NEVZA tournament: It's a great idea, but I'm not sure if it's regarded as an official tournament yet or still just kind of an experiment.
IF the communication has gone through the federation (which I'm not sure it has) it would not be through me anyway, but probably through Turneringsledelsen. So please don't hold me responsible for anything I say here...
But I think you would agree that it counts as somewhat awkward... Especially when the whole lineup is different from one point to the next.
The middle who came in as an opposite did a pretty good job by the way...
Even if the Federation is not responsible i think DVBF should be more involved.
It will guarentee the right team(s) going and at the same time the right number of teams. At the same time it is a good chance for danish teams to get some international experience where level and economy is not out of reach.
This offers the clubs some logistical challenges and can only lead to improvements. Clubs might not be able to prioritize these challenges, but the should.
At the same time it is a way to promote danish volleyball in the media, and I cannot understand DVBF is not more in control or more involved.
Even if they are not supposed to be i would advise it for next years event.
Martin
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