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Matches Week 46
Read below some summaries from the away matches in Week 46!
Ladies 8:
So this saturday we played against Donitas. We were in good spirits and were expecting a win.
The first set was close, we won by a hair with a final score of 22-25. We played well, but took over the other teams chaos which nearly cost us the set. The second set was our best. We started focussing on our own actions and had some very nice rallys. The final score was 14-25. Our spirits were lifted because even if we messed it up, we tied. The third set gave us our win, but was nerve wracking. We gave our first points away, but luckily Dagmar stepped up and started tipping some amazing balls. We beat them with 20-25. The last set was beautiful and resulted in us winning 0-4.
Ladies 3:
Last Friday we played at 8pm against Impala in Leek.
The preparations were stressful with corona complaints from Eva, a middle and driver that we needed badly.After a lot of phone calls, texts, and looking up bus schedules the entire travel schedule was rearranged. Eva dropped the balls together with a bowl of grapes at Kayleigh's just in time. Fortunately, everyone arrived in time at the Topsporthal in Leek, and after finally finding the right dressing room, the mental preparation could begin. Willemien, Fea, and Froukje decided they needed coffee before the game started. So while they enjoyed their canteen coffee, the rest started with a power round led by Luca.
That coffee and the power round apparently did us good, because thanks to Valerie's good serve we were soon ahead 1-16. But then Impala scored a point. Nothing wrong with that, we thought, let's recover our lead. Then Impala scored another point. And another. And another. Soon it was 15-16, how could we let that happen? We recovered just in time. After an Impala attack made the ball roll over the net on the right side of the court and out of bounds on the left, we won the first set 18-25.
The second set also started well, Willemien managed to block with one hand and to score by constantly poking the ball into the same hole. The score was 19-24, so nothing could happen to us! Impala fought back again and this time they kept going. In the end we had to let Impala win the set with 26-24, but we knew we could do better.
Despite the fact that we felt we had played a complete match after two sets, there were still two sets to be played. During the third set we changed some fresh heads and got a grip on Impala's serve. We managed to score by alternating tip balls and hard attacks straight through. To spare Willemien's shoulder, Valerie and Maeike served and passed in the back. Robin was also suffering from her shoulder, so she played with her left side for a change, which went well. Despite Eva's absence, many songs were sung (including new ones) and the atmosphere was good! Impala was broken and we won the last two sets with 16-25 and 14-25! Weary we walked back to the cars or bus stop, but for once we did not lose 2-3 in a weekday away game.
Ladies Recro:
Today, we played against donitas dr3 and the grannies (Menhir dr1). We gave it our all, but unfortunately we lost every set. We unknowingly bumped into one of the grannies already in our dressing room, when we were discussing our plan of attack. That must have been the reason we lost. Also, in between games we were quietly sitting on the bench, eating a waffle, when all of a sudden we were targeted by one of the playing teams. The waffle didn't make it.🥲 Next time, we will definitely look around us when talking about our gameplan and win.
Men’s 3:
On a cold november evening, the men of Heren 3 prepared to embark on their quest to explore far away lands (Ten Boer is like, what, 10 km away?) and slay epic monsters (a bit harsh, but I mean, compared to us…). Victor’s well-thoughtout plan was seemingly fail-proof. 5 young lads would gather at the bus station of their convenience, while another 5 young lads would do some light stretching before mounting Frank’s trusty steed (a car, no idea what model). Somewhere along the road, they expected to meet a wise sage to guide them in their battles (he won’t look very wise soon with a reverse Avatar haircut, right Ladies 4?).
It was all going according to plan. Ariq and Preslav hopped on the bus at the main station. A few stops later, Victor and Lorenzo joined them at the UMCG. Along the way they learned that Raihan, in his ambition to be first, had already taken the bus 30 minutes earlier and had just arrived in Ten Boer. Sure, no big deal, right? Wrong. A message appeared in the team’s collective conscious: “Send the bus we need to take”. It was Andres. But wait, isn’t he going by car? And the bus was already on its way, he wouldn’t be able to make it either way… “car dead” followed, our eloquent Austrian setter Tim “Timothy” Barnbuilder clarifying the situation. Chaos ensued – how could the trusty steed which had saved 5 lazy asses from riding the public transport so many times before fail us in our moment of dire need? What’s more, the remaining 5 not-so-lazy asses couldn’t possibly fight on their own – after all they were missing at least 2 people necessary to fill a 6+libero volleyball team. After some frantic posting of bus schedule screenshots and moderate confusion, it became clear that the wise sage and 2 of the 5 lost souls had find their way into a bus and would arrive on time to fulfil their destiny. There was hope yet.
We lost 0-4.
Thanks for reading.
Men’s 2:
Let us briefly revisit last Saturday's match of Kroton HS2 versus Olympia HS4.
For all of those who do not know about the "Mijn Volleyball" app or have no clue how to use it, long story short: we won 3-1! If you visited this page for more than just this information about how your favorite Kroton men's team is doing in the competition, please read on.
A good place to start the account of this match may be the arrival at the sports hall in Selwerd. Very quickly it was clear that we would not only be enough players but that we amassed a total of 10 players, all having valid QR codes in their pockets. Supporting the team were head-coach Antonia and chief of cheer-leading Maarten.
You may think now: "10 players, that is not even a full team!". For men's 2, however, this is a pretty substantial achievement and, consequently, the morale was high (especially after the events of our previous match).
Let's get to the match itself. We won the first two sets rather comfortably with 25-12 and 25-15. I believe we were in a 11-0 lead after a devastating series of serves (go Herbert!!) which left Olympia unable to respond for the longest time during the first set. It was going great: defense, offense and communication were pretty much on point. It seemed that we simply could do no wrong. *cue dramatic music*
Then the third set. Our senses clouded by visions of an easy 4:0 win, we decided to make a number of switches in the field (4 in total!). This led to some confusion in our ranks and a chaotic beginning to this fateful third set. As if this wasn't enough, Olympia was now picking up their game and started to play more confidently and thus creating a sizable lead for themselves.
It was around this time that Maarten really showcased his qualities as chief of cheer-leading: the air flooded with various chants and shouts (some known, many unknown and, for whatever reason, in German !?).
It is hard to say whether it was the fierce support on the sideline or the sheer force of will of the players in the field but things started to look up again and we were making a comeback: Noam setting balls like there is no tomorrow. Domantas pointing one finger to his head after scoring, which usually means that he just made two opponents run into one another while they were attempting to defend his perfectly placed tip/beach-styled-cut ball to one of the corners. Strong offensive moves all along the net and heroic defensive maneuvers in the back row. Unfortunately, all our efforts were not enough and we had to yield the third set with 19-25 to Olympia.
Returning to a similar configuration as in the first two sets, the fourth set started off more favorably for us. At the same time, Olympia had built up some momentum and, together with the onset of fatigue, the last set became a head-to-head struggle, ending in a final score of 25-21 in favor of Kroton.
What started out looking like a walk in the park turned into a Herculean task, but that's how it is in volleyball: the game is over when the game is over and not a second earlier.
After this well deserved victory, celebrations were in order. For this, Fabio generously provided the venue and (once more) demonstrated his skills as a chef. Rumors of escalations, which are said to have transpired at the very same place but a week earlier, created an atmosphere of great anticipation for the get-together.
It is unknown whether it was the exhaustion from the game or the guarding presence of coach Antonia but it came to be that this gathering did not claim as many victims of intoxication as one might have expected. All participants went home in full control of their senses*, their hearts filled with the kind of joy that only an evening of bonding with the team can provide.
*even though some might have been running 4k resolution at 10fps
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