Round Seven: Road Warriors

The one thing we knew going into the last three matches before the holiday break was that our fate is in our own hands. If we found a way to win these last three matches we would be in the Swedish Grand Prix, the beginning of January tournament of the top four teams in the country. However, we would have to get two of those three wins on the road, something that had alluded us so far this season.

The first match was today at Vingåker, a team that came into the match at 0-6 in the league. After playing the match I was personally surprised that this team hasn't won this season. They have to very solid middles and a good setter to go along with a less than average pin offense. We knew going into the match that if we controlled their middles we would win.

Game one was our typical slow start. We let a couple balls drop that should have been picked up and defensively it seemed like we were a step slow. Thankfully we figured it out and after a tough battle through the teens we took a 21-18 lead. Of course we made it a little interesting before pulling it out 25-23. It was only our second game win of the season on the road and we had to make sure that we carried that momentum into game two. We did.

We jumped out to an 8-4 lead before I came up to serve. For the first time since I got here basically I had a great game jump serving. I went on a five point run to put us up 13-4, which included a couple aces and a couple overpasses forced. As much as I'd like to take credit for hard work, I think the ball has made the most difference. Most matches we have played this year have been with a ball that for some reason doesn't do what I want it to do when I'm serving. It's a little heavier than the one we used today (which is actually the official FIVB international ball), and I just can't seem to get the toss right, or the ball to snap in bounds with top spin. But we just got an order of the lighter ones in at our home gym and have been able to practice with them this week. It made a world of difference in our match tonight, hitting and serving. Anyways, we took a 16-8 lead into the second technical timeout and were feeling good about about the way things were going. They proceeded to cut into the lead with a series of float servers to make it 21-16 and we limped to the finish for another 25-23 win.

Game three was a game that we had to have, not only to make sure we got three points, but to make sure we get some confidence in a gym other than our own. They kept it close until the first technical timeout, we led 8-7, but we broke away from there. A huge serving run from Kyle Masterson pushed our lead to 16-8 and we kept our foot on the gas all the way to the end for a change. It seems they couldn't do anything right, which was punctuated with a missed serve by them on match point.

Hopefully this match will be a sign of things to come. We played much more like a team today than we have been playing recently and it showed in the results. It may have been thanks to a change at libero, but in any case, it was good to see us finish games better than we have been.

While the match was going on I didn't feel like it was the best match I've played this season, but stats-wise it definitely was. I finished with 12 kills and three aces for a match leading 15 points, so I'll take that any day.

Upcoming this week, it looks like me and Eric are finally going to make a trip to Stockholm on Wednesday to check it out and we have a solid team in Falkoping coming up to Tierp this Sunday for our last home match before the three-week holiday break. Hopefully we can keep things headed in the right direction. God natt!