Things started out well in game one and we were in a great position to take a 1-0 lead in a very important road game when we just couldn't get the job done. We were up three points late (20-17 I believe) and ended up dropping a tough one, 25-23. Game two was just an absolute disaster on all levels for us. We fell down 12-4 early. We couldn't pass, couldn't hit and couldn't serve. That's not a good recipe for a team trying to beat an opponent that will probably be in the top 4 come playoff time. The beating continued even after a sub and a libero change and we ended up losing game two 25-15.
The only thing you can do w
hen you get smoked in a game is try to regroup in the three minute break before the next game starts. The beauty of set play in volleyball is that once a game is done that score means nothing in the next game, it's right back to 0-0. We knew we had a huge hill to climb but we got off to a great start in game three and were able to keep it rolling all the way through to a 25-18 victory.After this win we knew that this team wasn't doing anything that we couldn't deal with and if we imposed our will on them we could definitely take the next two sets and the match. We knew we had to control their opposite, a Brazilian who gets the bulk of their sets, and keep up with the pace of their offense to the left sides. We did a great job of it in games one and three and knew if we could just keep up with that we could take two points home. Things didn't exactly go as planned, however.
Game four was the most intensely competitive of the match, but again we found ourselves up late and couldn't slam the door. After battling early and through the teens we found ourselves with a 21-18 lead, only four points from forcing game five. That's when the wheels came off. A timeout at 21-18 was followed by a
n immediate three point run by Sollentuna to tie things up thanks to some shaky passing. We were left playing catch up in a sideout battle for the rest of the match. The match ended on a block at 27-25. The brutal van ride home through the first big snowstorm this winter didn't help any of our moods, that's for sure.If you would like to watch the match (I don't) you can view it here:
Tierp - Sollentuna
Be warned, however, putting microphones in the huddles is a bad idea. The language isn't for kids.
This was a horribly frustrating match for a bunch of reasons, namely being up by three points late in not one but two games! At that point all you have to do is side out and the game is yours but for some reason it seems like we take those three points for granted and let the other guys off the hook. Volleyball is a unique sport because you have to keep scoring at every opportunity you get. You can't get up 20 points early like in basketball or football and just coast through until the end.
Personally I played a great game one, pretty sure that's where the bulk of my nine kills came, but really didn't have an opportunity to do much the rest of the match because I didn't get set much. I blocked really well and forced some bad passes once I switched to my float serve but the whole match left me feeling like I could have made a bigger difference.
We need to improve our killer instinct if we are going to be contenders late or if we are even going to qualify for the Grand Prix in January. Right now we sit at six points, six back from first place Orkelljunga. You get three points for a win in three or four sets, two for a win in five and one for a loss in five so even pushing Tuesday's match to five games really could have helped us.
Luckily, we have a quick turnaround before our next match. We play at Falkenberg on Sunday. It's going to be a long day. Leaving Tierp at 7 AM, playing in Falkenberg at 5 PM and then right back on the road home, hopefully with three points and Monday off. I'll update soon, thanks for reading!
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