One Step Away

When we left for Aalborg yesterday, we felt good. We felt good about the way that we played our third semi final match against Gentofte. We felt good about the way that we were able to respond to the pressure of being the favorites. And most importantly, we felt good about getting the chance to play in a final.

All that positive energy allowed us to play a very solid first final. Our passing was really consistent and that allowed us to get into an early groove. We sided out well and made it difficult for Aalborg to win points in their own serve. It's a perfect scenario when playing an away game, it doesn't allow the crowd, or, by extension, the home team to get too excited. Not that the crowd wasn't alive or loud, but there simply weren't enough opportunities to go crazy. I would argue that against a team like HIK that means a lot. As soon as they get on a roll blocking, you know you are in trouble and the momentum is almost impossible to stop.

In a short post after the game on his blog Joakim Larsen declared it the best match that either team has played all year before replacing the post with a little more detail. It's hard to tell how the match looked from outside the court but a few different people told me that it was well played. I'm not sure if I'm ready to say it was our best match of the year, but it was definitely a good one. I think that we missed a few opportunities to really blow the game open, especially in the first and second sets. But that's all subjective so there is no point in saying more about it.

The most important thing for us is that we came home with a win. With two chances now to win gold at home we're not taking anything for granted. But, we also played all season to have the advantage we have now and hopefully that will translate into a win for us.

It feels like forever until Thursday and match number 2...